Gregor's story is told
by king of myths
Summary: Gregor and his family with Luxa, Mrs. Cormaci, and Ripred
1. Chapter 1,2 and 3

**Gregor's story is told**

**I do not own ****the ****Underland Chronicles**** Suzanne Collins does.**

A few weeks after Gregor and his family got back from the Underland. Gregor's grandma was still in the hospital this was the only thing keeping his mom from leaving New York. Gregor and his mom fought over him wanting to go back to the Underland he told her that there he did not have to hide or have to lie and he had friends who would die for him if need be. But the true reason why he wanted to back was the queen of the under land the love of his life Luxa he could never tell his mom she was the reason he wanted to go back. He did not know how he could talk about it without her there but Gregor was not alone both his dad and Lizzie were on his side. But his mom would not budge on the matter she knew Lizzie wanted to see the rat Ripred who saw her as a daughter and Gregor's father was backing Gregor because he saw Gregor and luxa kiss before the rock was moved back to cover the gateway. What really worried everyone was the Gregory was very sad and did not see like his normal self all the night mares and people he lost stated to add up and change him. One day he told his parents that he was going to go for a walk to clear his head so he went to were the bolder was blacking the Underland and sat there hoping for something to change his life. That's when the bolder moved to relive the girl he was all ways thinking about Luxa she ran right in to his arms tackling him to the ground and kissing him saying "Gregory I missed you". Gregor kissed back and told her he missed to than he heard a laugh that he knew all too well and saw Ripred coming up from the hole. " Well rager looks like your rusty if the queen can take you so easy" says the rat he saw as a second father Gregor gets up and hugs Ripred much to the rats surprise "I missed you Ripred how have you been not starting any wars are you?" he asks the rat. Ripred smiles at the boy and says "As tempting as it has been we been keeping peace it has not been easy but nothing worth doing is and I missed you to boy". By this time at Gregor's home Mrs. Cormaci came in to their home with a box saying it was meant for Gregor they were going to wait tell he got home for him to open it to see what is in it. Back with Gregor he just finished explaing to luxa that before he goes to the Underland with her he needs to talk to his mom and she and Ripred should come with him the all thought it was a good idea and started their way to his place making sure to hide from people. Gregor want to the door and opened it and walked in he was going to explain to his mom how they had guests when he walked in he saw everyone in the living room with a box sitting on the table. "Hey mom what is with the box" Gregor asks she looks at him "welcome back and it's for you we don't know what is in it we waited for you before you opened it." Said Gregor's mom. "Thanks for not opening it yet but before we do we got some guests waiting outside" he gets up and lets Ripred and Luxa in Lizzie jumps up and runs to Ripred and hugs him tight while boots goes to Luxa and hugs her leg she picks her up and hugs her. Everyone besides them and Gregor could no believe who walked in or what it could mean for the family has a whole Gregor's dad and Lizzie knew that Gregor would do anything to go back with luxa. While Gregor's mom thought they were here to take him back for some new war or something like that so she said "you are not talking my only son back to fight in some war he has been though a lot all ready". To which Luxa replied "we are not here for that we are here because everyone misses him and wants him back" while she said this Ripred was giving her a look that said you're not saying the whole truth. "But let's worry about that latter and see what in the box for the boy" said Ripred every one nodded their heads and Gregory opened the box to revile five books "There books "Gregor said as he pulled them out "what are the title's boy" said the impatient rat. "There Gregor the Overlander Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods Gregor and the Marks of Secret Gregor and the Code of Claw" said Gregory with wide eyes and he looks at luxa and Ripred. "these are about me and what i did in the Underland and its in my point of view" he says sadly Luxa hugs him and chars him up Gregor's mom eyes them but says nothing she wants to hear about them from these books before she says anything she may regret. While Mrs. Cormaci was smiling and said "let's read them I all ways wanted to know the complete story not some toned down version so you would not spook us" and Luxa added on " yes I also want to see what you first thought of me" she smiled at her love who got a little pale remembering what he thought. He had no way he would not have to read these books so he sat on the couch with luxa next to him and picked up the first book Gregor the overlander. Who want to read first Gregor said. Well it's your book so you should be first said Lizzie. He sighs and says fine and opens it up and reads chapter one.

**chapter 1**

**Gregor had pressed his forehead against the screen for so long, he could feel a pattern of tiny checks above his eyebrows.**

Every one looked at Gregor as he read but it was Ripred who spoke "well that's an new way to start the book and when does the take place?" asked the large rat.  
Gregor just looked at the rat and said "first off i did not write the book second it takes place before i fell in to the underland" the rat nodded and told him to go on with the reading.

**He ran his fingers over the bumps and resisted the impulse to let out a primal caveman scream. **

" I see you were quite bored huh rager" said Ripred. Gregor just nodded his head and went along reading.

**It was building up in his chest, that long guttural howl reserved for real emergencies — like when you ran into a saber-toothed tiger without your club, or your fire went out during the Ice Age. **

" I see you have a way with words" said while laughing and Luxa, boots and Lizzie laughed with her as Gregor's parents nodded there heads.  
Gregor just shook his head and asked to him self why it had to be from his point of view.

**He even went so far as to open his mouth and take a deep breath before he banged his head back into the screen with a quiet sound of frustration. "Ergh."**

**What was the point, anyway? It wouldn't change one thing. Not the heat, not the boredom, not the endless space of summer laid out before him.**

**He considered waking up Boots,**

**his two-year-old sister, just for a little distraction, but he let her sleep. At least she was cool in the air-conditioned bedroom she shared with their seven-year-old sister, Lizzie, and their grandma. It was the only air-conditioned room in the apartment. On really hot nights, Gregor and his mother could spread quilts on the floor to sleep, but with five in the room it wasn't cool, just lukewarm.**

Luxa was trying to wrap her head around that because in the underland it is very comfortable and she never had to worry about space she was felling very sorry for Gregor and his family. But if they cam to the underland they be treated like heroes and never have to worry about this kind of stuff again.  
she just hope after reading these books his family will see that.

**Gregor got an ice cube from the freezer and rubbed it on his face. He stared out at the courtyard where a stray dog sniffed around an overflowing trash can.**

**The dog set its paws on the rim, tipping the can and sending the garbage across the sidewalk. Gregor caught a glimpse of a couple of shadowy shapes scurrying along the wall and grimaced. Rats. He never really got used to them.**

Ripred rises an eyebrow and says "really well i guess i should fill offended" he crosses his arms and looks at Gregor who just lauhgs and says "ok any rat thats not you or twitch tip" than goes back to reading.

**Otherwise, the courtyard was deserted. Usually it was full of kids playing ball, jumping rope, or swinging around the creaky jungle gym. But this morning, the bus had left for camp, and every kid between the ages of four and fourteen had been on it. Except one.**

**"I'm sorry, baby, you can't go," his mother had told him a few weeks ago. And she really had been sorry, too, he could tell by the look on her face. "Someone has to watch Boots while I'm at work, and we both know your grandma can't handle it anymore."**

**Of course he knew it. For the last year his grandma had been slipping in and out of reality. One minute she was clear as a bell and the next she was calling him Simon. Who was Simon?**

"He was your grand father" said Gregor's dad Gregor nodded his head and went on reading.

**He had no idea.**

**It would have been different a few years ago. His mom only worked part-time then, and his dad, who'd taught high school science, was off summers. He'd have taken care of Boots. But since his dad disappeared one night, Gregor's role in the family had changed. He was the oldest, so he'd picked up a lot of the slack. Looking after his little sisters was a big part of it.**

his dad looked down at the ground felling bad for not being there but everyone told him it was not his flat but it was the rats.

**So all Gregor had said was, "That's okay, Mom. Camp's for kids, anyway. He'd shrugged to show that, at eleven, he was past caring about things like camp. But somehow that had made her look sadder.**

**"Do you want Lizzie to stay home with you? Give you some company?" she'd asked.**

**A look of panic had crossed Lizzie's face at this suggestion. She probably would have burst into tears if Gregor hadn't refused the offer. **

"yeah thanks for letting me go again" Lizzie said and Gregor replied with "it was nothing ".

**"Nah, let her go. I'll be fine with Boots."**

**So, here he was. Not fine. Not fine spending the whole summer cooped up with a two-year-old and his grandma who thought he was someone named —**

**"Simon!" he heard his grandma call from the bedroom, Gregor shook his head but he couldn't help smiling a little.**

**"Coming, Grandma!" he called back, and crunched down the rest of his ice cube.**

**A golden glow filled the room as the afternoon sunlight tried to force its way through the shades. His grandma lay on the bed covered by a thin cotton quilt. Every patch on the quilt had come from a dress she had made for herself through the years. In her more lucid moments, she'd talk Gregor through the quilt.**

**"This polka-dotted Swiss I wore to my cousin Lucy's graduation when I was eleven, this lemon yellow was a Sunday dress, and this white is in actual fact a corner of my wedding dress, I do not lie."**

**This, however, was not a lucid moment.**

everyone was hoping that she be ok.

**"Simon," she said, her face showing relief at the sight of him. "I thought you forgot your lunch pail. You'll get hungry plowing."**

**His grandma had been raised on a farm in Virginia and had come to New York when she married his grandfather. She had never really taken to it. Sometimes Gregor was secretly glad that she could return to that farm in her mind. And a little envious. It wasn't any fun sitting around their apartment all the time. By now the bus would probably be arriving at camp and Lizzie and the rest of the kids would —**

**"Ge-go!" squealed a little voice. A curly head popped over the side of the crib.**

everyone laughed at boots even boots.

**"Me out!" Boots stuck the soggy end of a stuffed dog's tail in her mouth and reached up both arms to him. Gregor lifted his sister high in the air and blew a loud raspberry on her stomach. She giggled and the dog fell to the floor. He set her down to retrieve it.**

**"Take your hat!" said Grandma, still somewhere back in Virginia.**

**Gregor took her hand to try to focus her attention. "You want a cold drink, Grandma? How about a root beer?"**

**She laughed. "A root beer? What is it, my birthday?"**

**How did you answer something like that?**

**Gregor gave her hand a squeeze and scooped up Boots. "I'll be right back," he said loudly.**

**His grandma was still laughing to herself. "A root beer!" she said, and wiped her eyes.**

**In the kitchen, Gregor filled a glass with icy root beer and made Boots a bottle of milk.**

**"Code," she beamed, pressing it to her face.**

everyone just laughed harder at boots and how cute she was.

**"Yes, nice and cold, Boots," said Gregor.**

**A knock on the door startled him. The peephole had been useless for a good forty years. He called through the door, "Who is it?"**

**"It's Mrs. Cormaci, darling. I told your mother I'd sit with your grandma at four!" a voice called back. Then Gregor remembered the pile of laundry he was supposed to do. At least he'd get out of the apartment.**

**He opened the door to find Mrs. Cormaci looking wilted in the heat. "Hello, you! Isn't it awful? I tell you I do not suffer heat gladly!" She bustled into the apartment patting her face with an old bandanna. "Oh, you dream, is that for me?" she said, and before he could answer she was gulping down the root beer like she'd been lost in the desert.**

Everyone laughed at Mrs. Cormaci as she reddened.

**"Sure," Gregor mumbled, heading back to the kitchen to fix another. He didn't really mind Mrs. Cormaci, and today it was almost a relief to see her. "Great, Day One and I'm looking forward to a trip to the** laundry room,"** Gregor thought. "By September, I'll probably be ecstatic when we get the phone bill."**

once aging Luxa thought how better off they be in the underland she holds Gregor's hand and pulls him closer to her.

**Mrs. Cormaci held out her glass for a refill. "So, when are you going to let me read your tarot, Mister? You know I've got the gift," she said. Mrs. Cormaci posted signs by the mailboxes offering to read tarot cards for people for ten bucks a shot. "No charge for you," she always told Gregor. He never accepted because he had a sneaking suspicion Mrs. Cormaci would end up asking a lot more questions than he would. Questions he couldn't answer. Questions about his dad.**

**He mumbled something about the laundry and hurried off to collect it. Knowing Mrs. Cormaci, she probably had a deck of tarot cards right in her pocket.**

"I did in fact have my cards on me" said

**Down in the** laundryroom,** Gregor sorted clothes as best he could. Whites, darks, colors … what was he supposed to do with Boots's black-and-white striped shorts? He tossed them in the darks feeling sure it was the wrong decision.**

**Most of their clothes were kind of grayish anyway — from age, not bad laundry choices. All Gregor's shorts were just his winter pants cut off at the knees, and he only had a few T-shirts that fit from last year, but what did it matter if he was going to be locked in the apartment all summer?**

**"Ball!" cried Boots in distress. "Ball!"**

**Gregor reached his arm between the** dryers** and pulled out an old tennis ball Boots had been chasing around. He picked off the dryer lint and tossed it across the room. Boots ran after it like a puppy.**

"puppy" said boots jumping up and down.

**What a mess," thought Gregor, laughing a little. "What a sticky, crusty, dusty mess!" The remains of her lunch, egg salad and chocolate pudding, were still evident on Boots's face and shirt. She had colored her hands purple with washable markers that Gregor thought maybe a sandblaster could remove, and her diaper sagged down around her knees**

everyone just shook there head at boots and laughed a bit.

**It was just too hot to put her into shorts.**

**Boots ran back to him with the ball, dryer lint floating in her curls. Her sweaty face beamed as she held out the ball. "What makes you so happy, Boots?" he asked.**

**"Ball!" she said, and then banged her head into his knee, on purpose, to speed him up. Gregor tossed the ball down the alley between the washers and the dryers. Boots flew after it.**

**As the game continued, Gregor tried to remember the last time he'd felt as happy as Boots did with her ball. He had had some decent times over the past couple of years. The city middle school band had gotten to play at Carnegie Hall. That was pretty cool. He'd even had a short solo on his saxophone. Things were always better when he played music; the notes seemed to carry him to a different world altogether.**

Gregor's father smiled sadly. It was just like that with him, too.

**Running track was good, too. Pushing his body on and on until everything had been drummed out of his mind.**

**But if he was honest with himself, Gregor knew it had been years since he'd felt real happiness. "Exactly two years, seven months, and thirteen days," he thought. **

even to this day Gregor had no idea how he know that.

**He didn't try to count, but the numbers automatically tallied up in his head. He had some inner calculator that always knew exactly how long his dad had been gone.**

**Boots could be happy. She wasn't even born when it happened. Lizzie was only four. But Gregor had been eight and had missed nothing; like the frantic calls to the police, who had acted almost bored with the fact that his dad had vanished into thin air. Clearly they thought he'd run off. They'd even implied it was with another woman.**

Everyone (Except Boots of course) grimaced in disgust. As if Gregor's dad would _ever _do that.

**That just wasn't true. If there was anything Gregor knew, it was that his father loved his mother, that he loved him and Lizzie, that he would have loved Boots.**

**But then — how could he have left them without a word?**

**Gregor couldn't believe his dad would abandon the family and never look back. "Accept it," he whispered to himself. "He's dead." A wave of pain swept through him. It wasn't true. It couldn't be true. His dad was coming back because … because … because what? Because he wanted it so badly to be true? Because they needed him? "No," thought Gregor. "It's because I can feel it. I know he's coming back."**

The adults smiled sadly at Gregor as he fidgeted nervously under their sad gazes.

**The washer spun to stop, and Gregor piled the clothes into a couple of dryers. "And when he gets back, he'd better have a really good explanation for where he's been!" muttered Gregor as he slammed the dryer door shut. "Like he got bumped on the head and forgot who he was. Or he was kidnapped by aliens." Lots of people got kidnapped by aliens on TV. Maybe it could happen.**

Boots giggled, "Aliens!" and got everyone laughing. She just seemed to know how to cheer everyone up.

**He thought about different possibilities a lot in his head, but they rarely mentioned his dad at home. There was an unspoken agreement that his dad would return. All the neighbors thought he'd just taken off. The adults never mentioned it, and neither did most of the kids — about half of them only lived with one parent, anyway. Strangers sometimes asked, though. After about a year of trying to explain it, Gregor came up with the story that his parents were divorced and his dad lived in California. It was a lie but people believed it, while no one seemed to believe the truth. Whatever that was.**

**"And after he gets home I can take him —," Gregor said aloud, and then stopped himself. He was about to break the rule.**

"What rule is that Gregor?" asked his mom. one second i am about to read it.

**The rule was that he couldn't think about things that would happen after his dad got back. And since his dad could be back at any moment, Gregor didn't allow himself to think about the future at all. He had this weird feeling that if he imagined actual events, like having his dad back next Christmas or his dad helping to coach the track team, they would never happen. Besides, as happy as some daydream would make him, it only made returning to reality more painful. So, that was the rule. Gregor had to keep his mind in the present and leave the future to itself. He realized that his system wasn't great, but it was the best way he'd figured to get through a day.**

Luxa looked at Gregor that is a lot like how i used to live my life before you changed everything she kisses his cheek and he blushes and keeps reading.

**Gregor noticed that Boots had been suspiciously quiet. He looked around and felt alarmed when he couldn't spot her right away.**

"Gregor." Grace groaned.

"I'm sorry." Gregor looked down sadly.

**Then he saw a scuffed pink sandal poking out from the last dryer. "Boots! Get out of there!" said Gregor.**

**You had to watch her around electrical stuff. She loved plugs.**

"'Lectricah!" shrieked Boots while hopping around

**As he hurried across the laundry room, Gregory heard a metallic klunk and then a giggle from Boots. "Great, now she's dismantling the dryer," thought Gregor, picking up speed. As he reached the far wall, a strange scene confronted him.**

**The metal grate to an old air duct was wide open, secured by two rusty hinges at the top. Boots was squinting into the opening, about two feet by two feet, which led into the wall of the building. From where he stood, Gregor could see nothing but blackness. Then a wisp of … what was it? Steam? Smoke? It didn't really look like either. Some strange vapor drifted out of the hole and curled around Boots. She held out her arm curiously and leaned forward.**

**"No!" yelled Gregor as he lunged for her, but Boots's tiny frame seemed to be sucked into the air duct. Without thinking, Gregor thrust his head and shoulders into the hole.**

Grace groaned again thinking why it had to be him.

**The metal grate smacked into his back. The next thing he knew, he was falling down, down, down into empty space.**

"well who wants to read next?" Gregor asked "i will" said Luxa as she took the book from him and started reading.

=====================================================================================

chapter2

**Gregor twisted around in the air, trying to position himself so he wouldn't land on Boots when they hit the basement floor, but no impact came. Then he remembered the laundry room was in the basement. So what exactly had they fallen into? **

**The wisps of vapor had thickened into a thick mist that generated a pale light. Gregor could see only a few feet in any direction. His fingers clawed desperately through the white stuff, looking for a handhold, but came up empty. He was plummeting downward so fast, his clothes ballooned around him.**

"**Boots!" he hollered, and the sound bounced eerily back to him. "There must be sides to this thing," he thought. He called again, "Boots!"**

**A bright giggle came from somewhere below him. "Ge-go go wheee!" said Boots.**

"Wheee!" Boots agreed with herself while jumping up and down around the room as the other laughed at her and luxa went back to reading.

"**She thinks she's on a big slide or something," thought Gregor. "At least she's not scared." He felt scared enough for the both of them. Whatever strange hole they had slipped into, it must have a bottom. There was only one way this spinning through space could end.**

Grace whimpered, thinking what might have happened if it really had been just a hole and three of her family members had died falling down it. Luxa just held his hand and calmed him down as she went on reading.

**Time was passing. Gregor couldn't tell exactly how much, but too much to make sense. Surely there was a limit to how deep a hole could be. At some point, you'd have to run into water or rock or the earth's platelets or something.**

**It was all like this horrible dream he had sometimes. **

Gregor's parents glanced at him along with Luxa. What dream?

**He'd be up high, somewhere he wasn't supposed to be, usually like the roof of his school. As he walked along the edge, the solid matter under his feet would suddenly give way, and down he'd go. Everything would disappear but the sensation of falling, of the ground closing in on him, of terror. Then, just at the moment of impact, he'd jerk awake, soaked in sweat, heart pounding.**

Grace hugged Gregor's dad to her as Gregor was held by Luxa. She remembered that Gregor had similar dreams now. She had asked about them and he had told her that they had started again after Ares had died.

"**A dream! I fell asleep in the laundry room and this is the same old crazy dream!" thought Gregor. "Of course! What else could it be?"**

This time, Mrs. Cormaci sighed sadly. Why couldn't it have been a dream? She remembered Grace coming home, asking after Gregor and Boots. She had told her that they had gone down to do the laundry. As Grace had gone to check on them, she realized that they should have been back by now. Her fears had been confirmed when Grace had come back sobbing. Couldn't _anything_ be simple for this poor, sweet family?

**Calmed by the notion that he was asleep, Gregor began to gauge his fall. He didn't own a wristwatch, but anybody could count seconds.**

Boots, eager to prove, started counting, "Won, too, free, four, five!" she said as she waved her hand around in the air.

"**One Mississippi . . . two Mississippi . . . three Mississippi . . ." At seventy Mississippi he gave up and began to feel panicky again. Even in a dream you had to land, didn't you?**

**Just then, Gregor noticed the mist beginning to clear a little. He could make out the smooth, dark sides of a circular wall. He seemed to be falling down a large, dark tube. He felt an updraft rising from below him. The last wisps of vapor blew away, and Gregor lost speed. His clothes gently settled back on his body.**

**Below him, he heard a small thump and then the patter of Boot's sandals. A few moments later, his own feet made contact with solid ground. He tried to get his bearings, not dating to move. Total darkness surrounded him. As his eyes adjusted, he became aware of a faint shaft of light off to his left.**

**A happy squeak came from behind it. "Bug! Beeg bug!"**

"Big bug! Those things were huge!" gasped Grace. everyone laughed at her and shook there heads thinking after seeing them in person she be over it.

**Gregor ran toward the light. It leaked through a narrow crevice between two smooth walls of rock. He barely managed to squeeze himself through the opening. His sneaker caught on something, causing him to lose his balance. He tripped out from between the rock walls and landed on his hands and knees.**

**When he raised his head, Gregor found himself looking into the face of the largest cockroach he'd ever seen.**

"Temp!" shrieked Boots as she jump for joy hering about her favorite bug in the underland.

**Now, his apartment complex had some big bugs. Mrs. Cormaci claimed a water bug the size of her hand had climbed out of her bathtub drain, and nobody doubted her. But the creature in front of Gregor rose at least four feet in the air. Granted, it was sitting up on its back legs, a very unnatural-looking position for a cockroach, but still . . .**

"Damn, you weren't exaggerating, Grace!"said Mrs. cormaci

"**Beeg bug!" cried Boots again, and Gregor managed to close his mouth. He pushed back onto his knees but he still had to tilt his head back to see the roach. It was holding some kind of torch. Boots scampered over to Gregor and tugged on the neck of his shirt. "Beeg bug!" she insisted.**

"**Yes, I see, Boots. Big bug!" said Gregor in a hushed voice, wrapping his arms tightly around her. "Very . . . big . . . bug."**

"They are very big aren't they?" Lizzie agreed. Luxa just looked at her like she got odd in the head all of you but Mrs. cormaci seen them why are you surprised? she asked.

**He tried to remember what cockroaches ate. Garbage, rotten food . . . people? He didn't think they ate people. Not the little ones, anyway. Maybe they wanted to eat people but they kept getting stepped on first. At any rate, this wasn't a good time to find out. Trying to appear casual, Gregor slowly edged his way back toward the crack in the rocks. "Okay, Mr. Roach, so we'll just be going, sorry we bugged you - I mean, bothered you, I mean –"**

Lizzie started laughing. Who knew her big brother would be talking to bugs? Luxa looked at Gregor maybe we should get my grand farther to train you to speak better.

"**Smells what so good, smells what?" a voice hissed, and it took Gregor a full minute to realize it had come from the cockroach.**

"Oh," said Mrs. Cormaci. "They speak rather oddly don't they?" Nobody disagreed with her, but they all laughed at her face when Boots said something in the cockroach's language. "What did she say?" she asked faintly. "We don't know." Gregor's father answered. "She learned how to speak to the cockroaches with the help of a little boy." "Hazard!" Boots agreed. "What an odd name." Mrs. Cormaci whispered to herself. Luxa eyed Mrs. cormaci as if she insuled the boy she thought of as a little brother.

**He was too stunned to make any sense of the strange words.**

"**Uh . . . excuse me?" he managed.**

"**Smells what so good, smells what?" the voice hissed again, but the tone wasn't threatening. Just curious, and maybe a little excited. "Be small human. Be?" **

"**All right, okay, I'm talking to a giant cockroach," thought Gregor. **

Lizzie started laughing again. along with ripred and Luxa while Gregor was glaring at them.

**"Be cool, be nice, answer the bug. He wants to know 'Smells what so good, smells what?' So, tell him." Gregor forced himself to take a deep sniff and then regretted it. Only one thing smelled like that.**

"Oh, no." mumbled Grace. She knew what that meant.

"**I poop!" said Boots, as if on cue. "I poop, Ge-go!"**

Everyone started laughing.

"**My sister needs a clean diaper," said Gregor, somehow feeling embarrassed.**

**The roach, if he could read it right, acted impressed. "Ahhh. Closer come can we, closer some?" said the roach, delicately sweeping the space in front of it with a leg.**

"They like it?" Grace whispered in awe. "Yeah, they love the smell. Especially if it's coming from Boots." Gregor told her. Luxa nodded her head to show Gregor was right.

"**We?" said Gregor. Then he saw the other forms rising out of the dark around them. The smooth black bumps he had taken for rocks were actually the backs of another dozen or so enormous cockroaches. They clustered around Boots eagerly, waving their antennas in the air and shuddering in delight.**

**Boots, who loved any kind of compliment, instinctively knew she was being admired. She stretched out her chubby arms to the giant insects. "I poop," she said graciously, and they gave an appreciative hiss.**

"**Be she princess, Overlander, be she? Be she queen, be she?" asked the leader, dipping its head in slavish devotion.**

"**Boots? A queen?" asked Gregor. Suddenly he had to laugh.**

"I _am_ pwincess, Gregor!" Boots insisted. '_Yes you are.' _Gregor smiled to himself. while ripred rolled his eyes and said she bot the only princess there two in this room don't forget Lizzie is a princess also everyone nodded there head as Lizzie smiled at the large rat.

**The sound seemed to rattle the roaches, and they withdrew stiffly. "Laugh why, Overlander, laugh why?" one hissed, and Gregor realized he had offended them.**

"How?" Mrs. Cormaci wondered aloud. "They thought I was laughing at them. Well, technically I was, but still." ripred and luxa shook there head at the boy.

"**Because, we're, like, poor and she's kind of a mess and . . . are you calling me an Overlander?" he wound up lamely.**

"**Be you not Overlander human, be you? No Underlander you," said the torch bearing roach peering closely at him. "You look much like but smell not like."**

**Something seemed to dawn on the leader. "Rat bad." It turned to its comrades. "Leave we Overlanders here, leave we?" The roaches drew closer together in consultation and all began to talk at once.**

**Gregor caught snippets of their conversation, but nothing that made sense. They were so immersed in their debate that he thought about trying to escape again. He looked at his surrondings. In the dim torchlight, they appeared to be in a long, flat tunnel. "We need to go back up," thought Gregor. "Not sideways." He could never scale the walls of the hole they'd fallen down with Boots in his arms.**

**The roaches came to a decision. "You come, Overlanders. Take to humans," said the leader. "Humans?" said Gregor, feeling relieved. "There are other humans down here?"**

"My thoughts exactly," Gregor's dad laughed.

"**Ride you, ride you? Run you, run you? Asked the roach, and Gregor understood it was offering him a lift. It didn't look sturdy enough to carry him, but he knew some insects, like ants, could carry many times their weight. He had a sickening image of trying to sit on the roach and crushing it.**

"Gregor!" Lizzie, her mother, Mrs. Cormaci and Luxa ripred rolled his eyes at the boy. Boots shrieked, "Don't hurt Temp, Gregor!"she said while hinting on his legs to prove her point.

"**I think I'll walk – I mean, run," said Gregor.**

"**Ride the princess, ride she" said the roach hopefully, waving its antennas ingratiatingly and flattening itself on its stomach before Boots. Gregor would have said no, but the toddler climbed right up on the roach's back. He should have known. She loved to sit on the giant metal turtles at the Central Park Zoo.**

"**Okay, but she has to hold my hand," said Gregor, and Boots obediently latched onto his finger.**

**The roach took off immediately, and Gregor found himself jogging to keep up with it. He knew roaches could move fast; he'd watched his mother swat enough of them. Apparently these giant roaches had maintained their speed with their size. Fortunately the floor of the tunnel was even, and Gregor had only finished up tracks a few weeks ago. He adjusted his pace to match the roaches and soon found a comfortable rhythm.**

**The tunnel began to twist and turn. The roaches veered into side passages and even doubled back to choose a new route sometimes. In minutes, Gregor was hopelessly lost, and the mental picture of their path that he'd been making in his head resembled one of Boot's squiggly drawings. **

"Pwetty!" Boots cried. trying to show that Gregor was right about her artistic abilities or the lake there of.

**He gave up trying to remember directions and concentrated on keeping up with the insects. "Man," he thought, "these bugs can really move!"**

**Gregor began to pant, but the roaches didn't show any visible signs of exertion. He had no idea how far they were going. Their destination could be a hundred miles away. Who knew how far these things could run?**

**Just when he was about to tell them he needed to rest, Gregor heard a familiar roar. **

"Of water?" Mrs. Cormaci asked him. "No, like people, a lot of them." yes the arena said luxa as the remembered the day her life forever changed.

**At first he thought he was mistaken, but as they drew closer he felt sure. It was a crowd and, judging by the sound of it, a big one. But where could you fit a crowd in these tunnels?**

**The floor began to slope sharply, and Gregor found himself backpedaling to avoid stepping on the roach leader. Something soft and feathery brushed against his face and arms. Fabric? Wings? He passed through the stuff, and the unexpected light nearly blinded him. His hands instinctively covered his eyes as they tried to adjust.**

**A gasp went up from the crowd. He'd been right about that part. Then it got unnaturally quiet, and he had the sense that a great number of people were looking at him.**

"Awkward silence." Lizzie whispered in a sing-song voice. ripred nodded his head in agreement with Lizzie "Crickets," Boots agreed. "Chirp, chirp." yes boots Crickets said Grace.

**Gregor began to make out his surroundings. It wasn't really that bright - in fact, it seemed like evening - but he'd been in darkness so long, he couldn't tell. The first thing he made out was the ground, which appeared to be covered with a dusky green moss. Except it wasn't uneven, but smooth as pavement. He could feel its springiness under his feet. "It's a field," he thought. "For some kind of game. That's why there's a crowd. I'm in a stadium."**

**Slowly it came into focus. A polished wall enclosed a large oval cavern about fifty feet high. The top of the oval was ringed with bleachers. Gregor's eyes traveled up the distant rows of people as he tried to find the ceiling. Instead, he found the athletes.**

**A dozen bats were slowly spiraling around the top of the arena. They ranged in color from bright yellow to black. Gregor guessed the smallest on had a wingspan of about fifteen feet. The crowd must have been watching them when he stumbled in, because the rest of the field area was empty. "Maybe it's like Rome, and they feed people to the bats. **

"Gregor." his mom, Lizzie, Mrs cormaci, and Luxa groaned.

**Maybe that's why the roaches brought us here," he thought.**

**Something fell from one of the bats. It hit the ground in the middle of the stadium and bounced fifty feet into the air. He thought, "Oh, it's just a -"**

**"Ball!" cried Boots, and before he could stop her she had slid off the roach, wiggled through the other bugs, and started to run across the mossy ground with her little flat-footed stride.**

**"Most graceful, the princess," hissed a roach dreamily as Gregor headed after her. The insects had shifted easily to let Boots by, but they were an obstacle course for him. Either they were intentionally trying to slow him down, or they were so taken with Boot's beauty that they had forgotten about him entirely.**

'_I'm still not sure which.' _Gregor realized.

**The ball hit the ground a second time and bounced back in the air. Boots ran after it, reaching her arms high above her head to follow its path.**

**As Gregor broke free of the roaches and ran for his sister, a shadow passed over him. He looked up and to his horror he saw a golden bat diving straight down at Boots. He'd never reach her in time. "Boots!" he screamed, feeling his stomach contract.**

**She turned around to him and saw the bat for the first time. Her face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Bat!" she shouted, pointing at the monstrous animal above her.**

**"Geez!" thought Gregor. "Doesn't anything scare her?"**

"Gregor mad at squid." Boots shuddered. "What's she talking about?" Grace asked, worried. "You'll out in one of these books." Gregor replied, sad that his sister remembered that and sad that it scared her so badly. Luxa looked over at him and kissed him lightly and held his hand tighter to show she was there for him.

**The bat swooped over Boots, lightly brushing her finger with its belly fur, and then soared back into the air in a loop. At the top of the arc, while the bat was flat on its back, Gregor noticed for the first time that someone was sitting on it. The rider had its legs wrapped around the bat's neck. He realized it was a girl.**

_'Luxa,' _Gregor smiled and looked at said girl reading and held her closer to him.

**The upside-down girl released her legs and dropped off the bat's back. She executed a perfect double back flip, twisting around the last moment to face Gregor's direction, and landed on the ground as lightly as a cat in front of Boots. One hand went out, and the ball fell into it in what was either a feat of remarkable timing or incredible luck.**

**Gregor looked at the girl's face and could tell by her arrogant expression that there had been no luck involved at all.**

"You thought she was arrogant?" Lizzie asked. She knew how much her brother loved Luxa and wondered what it had been like when they first met. yes what Lizzie said did you really think that Gregor? asked Luxa while glaring at him.

"Not anymore." Gregor said as he held up his hands to protract himself ageist the girl he loved. Luxa looked at him fine you get away this time she said while looking around whose next that was the end of the chapter.

Ripred held up his paw i will read the next one he said as he took the book.


	2. Chapter 4

**Gregor's story is told**

**I do not own ****the ****Underland Chronicles**** Suzanne Collins does.**

**Hands down, she was the strangest-looking person Gregor had ever seen. **

oh really now luxa said looking at gregor with a look that promised nothing but pain. hey its the first time i ever say an underlander give me a break. Gregor said. as ripred went back to reading

**Her skin was so pale, he could see every vein in her body. He thought of the section on the human anatomy in his science book. Flip one page, see the bones. Next, the digestive system. This girl was a walking circulatory system.**

**At first he thought her hair was gray like his grandma's, but that wasn't right. It was really more a silver color, like blond hair with a metallic tint. The hair was woven in an intricate braid down her back and was tucked into a belt at her waist. A thin band of gold encircled the girl's head. It could have been some kind of hair band, but Gregor had a bad feeling it was a crown.**

still thougth it was like rome where they were they fed people to bats insted but now i know how wrong i was and applogize said gregor

**He didn't want this girl to be in charge. He could tell by the upright way she held herself, by the slight smile at the left corner of her mouth, by the way she managed to be looking down on him even though he was a good six inches taller than she was, that she had real attitude.**

luxa glard at gregor for that thought

**That's what his mom would say about certain girls he knew. "She's got real attitude." She would shake her head, but Gregor could tell she approved of these girls.**

Everyone laughed at this.

**Well, there was having attitude and then there was just being a total show-off.**

Lizzie smiled. She remembered that Gregor and Luxa used to just about hate each other. She couldn't understand how they had grown to love each other.

**Gregor felt sure she'd done that fancy trick off the bat completely for his benefit. One flip would have been plenty. It was her way to intimidate him, but he wouldn't be intimidated. Gregor looked straight into the girl's eyes and saw that her irises were a dazzling shade of light purple.**

Gregor smiled. He really did love Luxa's eyes. and said that very thing to the girl he loved who was right next to him who did a full body blush that only underlanders could pull off.

**He held his ground.**

Gregor's dad smiled. '_Thatta' boy, Gregor. Don't back down._' he thought. while grace rolled her eyes at her son.

**Gregor didn't know how long they might have stood there sizing each other up if Boots hadn't intervened. She plowed into the girl, knocking her off balance. The girl staggered back a step and looked at Boots in disbelief.**

**Boots grinned winningly and held up a pudgy hand. "Ball?" she said hopefully.**

**The girl knelt down on one knee and held out the ball to Boots, but she kept her fingers wrapped tightly around it. "It is yours if you can take it," she said in a voice like her eyes: cold, and clear, and foreign.**

**Boots tried to take the ball, but the girl didn't release it. Confused, she pulled on the girl's fingers. "Ball?"**

**The girl shook her head. "You will have to be stronger or smarter than I am."**

Grace frowned. Luxa didn't act like this _now_, did she? luxa looked at the ground sad at the fact she used to be so cold

**Boots looked up at the girl, registered something, and poked her right in the eye. "Pu-ple!" she said. The girl jerked back, dropping the ball. Boots scrambled after it and scooped it up.**

**Gregor couldn't resist. "I guess she's smarter," he said.**

Gregor's dad, Lizzie, and Mrs. Cormaci all laughed. Grace groaned, "Gregor," but couldn't hide her smile. that was still mean Gregor luxa said glaring at the boy

**It was a little mean, but he didn't like her messing with Boots that way.**

**The girl narrowed her eyes. "But not you. Or you would not say such things to a queen."**

**So, he had been right: She was royalty. Now she'd probably chop off his head or something. Still, he felt it would be bad if he acted scared. Gregor shrugged. "No, if I'd known you were a queen, I'd probably have said something a lot cooler."**

Gregor's dad laughed.

"**Cool-er?" she said, raising her eyebrows.**

"**Better," said Gregor, for lack of a cooler word.**

**The girl decided to take it as an apology. "I will forgive it as you are not knowing. What are you called, Overlander?"**

"**My name's Gregor. And that's Boots," he said, pointing to his sister. "Well, her name's not really Boots, it's Margaret, but we call her Boots because in the winter she steals everybody's boots and runs around in them and because of this musician my dad likes." That sounded confusing even to Gregor. "What's your name?"**

"**I am Queen Luxa," said the girl.**

"**Louk-za?" said Gregor, trying to get the odd inflection right.**

"**What means this, what the baby says? Pu-ple?" she asked.**

"Purple is a color, Luxa!" Boots explained to the book slowly. everyone just laughed at her

"**Purple. It's her favorite color. And your eyes, she's never seen purple eyes before," explained Gregor.**

**Boots heard the word and came holding up her palms, which were still dyed purple from the marker. "Pu-ple!"**

"**I have never seen brown before. Not on a human," said Luxa, staring into Boots eyes. "Or this." She caught Boot's wrist and ran her fingers over the silky, light brown skin. "It must need much light."**

**Boots giggled. Every inch of her was ticklish. Luxa purposely ran her fingers up under Boot's chin, making her laugh. For a second, Luxa lost her attitude, and Gregor thought she might not be so bad. Then she straightened up and resumed her haughty manner. "So, Gregor the Overlander, you and the baby must bathe."**

"Rude." sniffed Mrs. Cormaci. "No, she was trying to help us. You'll see." trying to diffend luxa and get her less mad at him

**Gregor knew he was sweaty from running through the tunnels, but that was pretty rude. "Maybe we should just go."**

"**Go? Go where?" asked Luxa in surprise.**

"**Home," he said.**

"**Smelling like you do?" said Luxa. "You will be thrice dead before you reach the Waterway, even if you knew the path to take." She could see he didn't understand. "You smell of the Overland. That is not safe for you here. Or for us."**

"Oh," Mrs. Cormaci said simply. told you Gregor said.

"**Oh," said Gregor, feeling a little foolish. "I guess we should rinse off before we go home, then."**

"**It is not so simple. But I will let Vikus explain," said Luxa. "You have had rare luck today, being found so quickly."**

"**How do you know we were found quickly?" asked Gregor.**

"**Our lookouts noted you shortly after you landed. As you were the crawler's find, we let them present you," she said.**

"**I see," said Gregor. Where had the lookouts been? Concealed in the gloom of the tunnels? Hidden somewhere in the mist he'd fallen through? Until the stadium, he hadn't seen anyone but the roaches.**

"**They were headed here, in any case," she said, gesturing to the roaches. "See, they carry torches. They would not bother if they were not visiting us."**

"Why not?" asked Mrs. Cormaci. ripred kept reading as way of answer.

"**Why's that?" said Gregor.**

"**Crawlers do not need light. But they show themselves to us to let us know they come peacefully. Did you not wonder at how easily you arrived here?" she asked. Without waiting for an answer, she turned to the group of cockroaches who had been standing patiently off to the side. "Crawlers, what take you for the Overlanders?"**

**The head roach scurried forward. "Give you five baskets, give you?" he hissed.**

"Baskets?" Mrs. Cormaci wondered. "A way of payment." Gregor informed her. luxa nodded in agremnet

"**We will give three grain baskets," said Luxa.**

"**Rats give many fish," said the roach, cleaning its antennas casually.**

"**Take them to the rats, then. It will give you no time," said Luxa.**

This time it was Lizzie who asked, "Time?" Surprisingly, Grace answered. "I heard the doctors talking about it while I was . . . sick. I think it means life." yes as well dies light luxa said.

**Gregor didn't know exactly what they were talking about, but he had the uneasy sense he was for sale.**

**The insect considered Luxa's last offer. "Give you four baskets, give you?" it said.**

"**We will give four baskets, and one for thanks," said a voice behind Gregor. He turned and saw a pale, bearded man approaching them on foot. His close-cropped hair really was silver, not just the silvery blond.**

**Luxa glared at the old man but didn't contradict him.**

**The cockroach painstakingly added up four and one on its legs. **

"Five!" Boots informed the book, holding up ten fingers. everyone shook there head and laughed at her.

**"Give you five baskets, give you?" it asked, as if the whole idea were a new one.**

"**We will give five baskets," said Luxa less than graciously, giving the roach a terse bow. It bowed back and scampered off with the other bugs out of the stadium.**

"**And if it is up to Vikus, soon we will have no baskets to give," the girl said pointedly to the bearded man who had turned his focus to Gregor and Boots.**

"**One more basket will be a small price to pay if he is expected," he answered. His violet eyes stared intently at Gregor. "Tell me, Overlander, are you from . . ." He searched for the words. "New York City?"**

"How did he know?" gasped Grace. "You'll see." Gregor replied, handing her the book. luxa shook her had at Gregor trying to be mysterious


	3. Chapter 5

**Gregor's story is told**

**I do not own ****the ****Underland Chronicles**** Suzanne Collins does.**

Gregor's mom took the book and began to read.

**It was as if someone had splashed water in Gregor's face and brought reality rushing back. Ever since he'd fallen through the hole in the wall, things had been happening so fast, it was all he could do to keep up with them. Now, in this momentary calm, the words "New York City" came as a shock.**

**Yes! He was a kid who lived in New York City and had to do the laundry and get back upstairs with his little sister before his mother – **_**his mother**_**!**

"**I have to go home now!" Gregor blurted out.**

**His mom worked as a receptionist at a dentist's office. She usually got off right at five and was home by five-thirty. She'd be worried sick if she came in and found that he and Boots had disappeared. Especially after what had happened to his dad. He tried to figure out how much time had passed since he was in the laundry room. "We probably fell for, let's say, five minutes and then we must have run for about twenty with the roaches and we've been here maybe ten," he thought. Thirty-five minutes.**

"**Okay, so the clothes should be about dry!" he said aloud. **

Lizzie giggled. "You probably sounded like you were crazy." Boots, to everyone's suprise told Lizzie, "Gregor _is _cwazy!" yes he is luxa fully agred

**"If we get back up there in the next twenty minutes it should be okay." No one would think to look for them before that, and he could just take the laundry up and fold it in the apartment.**

"Let me get this straight," Lizzie started, staring at her brother in bewilderment. "You fall though a grate in the laundry room, find a bunch of giant talking roaches, run to an unknown city with said roaches, find a transparent-looking girl, who happens to be the qeuun of this unknown city, get traded for baskets of grain, and you're worried about finishing the laundry in time?" Gregor mockingly thought about this for a couple seconds then said, "Yeah, pretty much." every shook there head at him

"**Really, I need to go back up right now," he said to Vikus.**

**The old man was still examining him closely. "It is simple to fall down, but going up requires much giving."**

"**What do you mean?" asked Gregor, his throat tightening.**

"**He means you cannot go home," said Luxa flatly. "You must stay with us in the Underland."**

"**Uh, no! No, thank you!" said Gregor. "I mean you're all great, but I've got stuff to do . . . upstairs!" he said. "Thanks again! Nice meeting you! Come on, Boots!"**

The three adults sighed. If only Gregor were this eager to stay in the Overland now everything would be much simpler. good luxa thoguht to her self

**Gregor scooped up his sister and headed for the arched opening the roaches had left by. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Luxa raise her hand. For a moment he thought she was waving good-bye, but that couldn't be right. Luxa wasn't friendly enough to wave. **

Lizzie whispered teasingly in Gregor's ear. "No, but she was friendly enough to kiss you." Grace, who had heard, shook her head to be young and in love she smiled as she saw Gregor blush and look at luxa who was frowing. i am sorry for being so cold befor she said to him.

**"If it's not a wave, then it's a signal!" he muttered to Boots. Then he bolted for the doorway.**

**He might have made it if he hadn't been hauling Boots, but he couldn't really run with her in his arms. Ten yards from the exit the first bat swept in front of him, knocking him flat on his back on the ground. His body cushioned Boot's fall, and she immediately sat up on his stomach to enjoy the show.**

Everyone laughed at Boots.

**Every bat in the arena had dived for them. They flew in a tight circle around Gregor and Boots, locking them in a prison of wings and fur. Each one had a rider as pale and silver-haired as Luxa. Despite the close proximity and speed of the bats, none of the people had any trouble staying mounted. In fact, only a few bothered to hold on at all. One cocky-looking guy on a glossy black bat actually lay in a reclining position, propping up his head with one hand. **

"Echolocation." Lizzie told him. "Yes, I know that _now. _This is all in the past." he rolled his eyes. "Oh, yeah." ;uxa shook her head trying not to laugh at them.

**The riders couldn't take their eyes off the captives. As the flashed by, Gregor could see their expressions ranged from amusement to outright hostility.**

**Boots bounced on his stomach and clapped her tiny hands. "Bats! Bats! Bats! Bats!"**

"**Well, at least one of us is enjoying this," thought Gregor.**

**Boots loved bats. At the zoo, she'd stand in front of the large plate-glass window of the bat habitat forever if you let her. In the small, dark display, hundreds of bats managed to flit around continuously without knocking into one another. They could do that because of something called echolocation. The bats would emit a sound that would echo off something solid and they'd be able to tell where it was located. Gregor had read the card on echolocation about a billion times waiting for Boots to get tired of the bats. He felt like something of an expert on the subject.**

Well," Lizzie considered, teasingly. "I guess since you _can_ perform echolocation, you _could_ be considered _somewhat_ educated on the subject." "Oh, be quiet." ripred pattted her on the head to show his approvel

"**Bats! Bats! Bats!" chanted Boots, using his stomach for a trampoline. Feeling queasy, Gregor pushed himself up on his elbows and scooted her onto the ground. The last thing he needed was to throw up in front of these people.**

**He got to his feet. Boots tucked her arm around his knee and leaned against him. The circles of bats shrunk in even closer. "What? Like I'm going somewhere?" said Gregor with aggravation. He heard a couple of the riders laugh.**

**Luxa must have given another signal, because the bats peeled off one at a time and began wheeling around the arena in complicated patterns. Gregor saw that neither she nor Vikus had bothered to move from where he had left them. He looked at the doorway and knew it was pointless. Still . . . these people were a little too smug for their own good.**

"Oh, you're gonna' play a trick on them, aren't you?" Lizzie asked Gregor, excitedly. He winked at her, then nodded at his mother as a gesture to keep reading. while looking applogticly to luxa.

**Gregor sprinted three steps toward the exit before he whipped around and headed back to Luxa, catching his sister's hand on the way. Taken by surprise, the bats broke out of their formation and zoomed down, only to find themselves with no one to capture. They pulled up in an awkward clump, and while they didn't actually collide, Gregor felt gratified to see several riders struggling to stay on their bats.**

At this, everyone cracked up, even Boots, who didn't really know what was going on. luxa was even laughing she now could see how funny it would look.

**The crowd, which had been amazingly quiet sine their appearance, broke out into appreciative laughter. Gregor felt a little more confident. At least he wasn't the only one who looked like an idiot. "Faked them out," he said to Boots.**

**Luxa's gaze was icy, but Gregor saw Vikus trying to suppress a smile as he walked up. "So, you said something about a bath?" he said to Luxa.**

"**You will follow to the palace **_**now**_**," said Luxa crossly. She flicked her hand, and her golden bat swept down behind her. Just as it was about to crash into her, Luxa leaped in the air. She lifted her legs straight out to the sides and touched her toes in a move Gregor thought he'd maybe seen cheerleaders do. The bat ducked under her, and she landed on its back easily. It arched up, missing Gregor by inches. Then it righted itself in the air and sped out of the stadium.**

"Showoff." Gregor muttered fondly. you know it she said and winked at him

"**You're wasting your time with that stuff!" called Gregor, although Luxa was out of earshot. He felt angry with himself because, in fact, he had to admit this girl had some moves.**

**Vikus had heard him, though. His smile broadened. Gregor scowled at the old man. "What?"**

"**Will you follow to the palace, Overlander?" asked Vikus politely.**

"**As what, your prisoner?" said Gregor bluntly.**

"Gregor!" his mother scolded him. "Sorry." he muttered. you should be luxa said

"**As our guest, I hope," replied Vikus. "Although Queen Luxa has no doubt ordered the dungeon readied for you." His violet eyes literally twinkled, and Gregor found himself liking the man in spite of himself. Maybe because he was pretty sure Vikus liked him. He resisted the temptation to smile.**

"**Lead the way," said Gregor indifferently.**

**Vikus nodded and waved him toward the far side of the arena. Gregor followed a few steps behind him, towing Boots.**

**The stands were beginning to empty. High in the air, the people filed out through exits between their bleachers. Several bats still wove around the stadium doing aerodynamic maneuvers. Whatever game had been in progress had ended when Gregor arrived. The remaining bats and riders were hanging around to keep an eye on him. As they neared the main entrance of the stadium, Vikus dropped back and fell in step with Gregor. "You must feel as if you are trapped in a dream, Overlander."**

"**I was thinking nightmare," said Gregor evenly.**

**Vikus chuckled. "Our bats and crawlers – no, what is it you call them? Cockhorses?"**

"Cock-_roaches._" Boots explained to the book. while every shook there heads waching her talk to the book

"**Cockroaches," corrected Gregor.**

"**Ah, yes, cockroaches," agreed Vikus. "In the Overland, they are but handfuls while here they grow largely."**

"**How do you know that?" Have you been to the Overland?" said Gregor. If Vikus could get there, then so could he and Boots.**

"**Oh, no, such visits are as rare as trees.**

"Trees?" Mrs. Cormaci wondered. "But trees aren't rare." "They are in the Underland." Gregor's dad replied. Mrs. Cormaci nodded, feeling, for the first time, kind of left out. Honestly, the _five-year-old _knew more about this place than she did. The most contact she'd ever had was sending food to Ripred through Gregor.

** It is the Overlanders who come at times to us. I have met six or seven. One called Fred Clark, another called Mickey, and most recently a woman known as Coco. What are you called, Overlander?" asked Vikus.**

"**Gregor. Are they still here? Are the other Overlanders still here?" asked Gregor, brightening at the thought.**

"**Sadly, no. This is not a gentle place for Overlanders," said Vikus, his face darkening.**

**Gregor stopped, pulling Boots up short. "You mean you killed them?"**

"Gregor!" his mother shouted again. "That is no way to talk to someone!" "I know, I just wasn't to sure about Regalia, that's all." luxa glared at him

**Now he'd insulted the guy.**

"**We? We humans kill the Overlanders? I know of your world, of the evils that transpire there. But we do not kill for sport!" said Vikus severely. "Today we have taken you in among us. Had we denied you, count on it, you would not be breathing now!"**

"**I didn't mean you . . . I mean, I didn't know how it worked here," stammered Gregor. Although he should have guessed that it wasn't very diplomatic to suggest Vikus was a murderer. "So, the roaches would have killed us?"**

"**The crawlers kill you?" said Vikus. "No, it would give them no time."**

**There was that expression again. What did it mean to give the roaches time?**

"**But no one else knows were here," said Gregor.**

**Vikus looked at him gravely. Concern had replaced his anger. "Believe me, boy, by this time, every creature in the Underland knows you are here."**

'_Except maybe the moles._' Gregor thought, then '_Diggers._' he corrected himself.

**Gregor resisted an impulse to look over his shoulder. "And that's not a good thing, is it?"**

**Vikus shook his head. "No. That is not in any manner a good thing."**

Gregor's dad shuddered, remembering the rats.

**The old man turned to the exit of the stadium. Half a dozen pale, violet-eyed guards flanked two gigantic stone doors. It took their combined efforts to push the doors open a few feet and to allow Vikus to pass.**

**Gregor led Boots through the doors, and they closed immediately behind him. He followed Vikus down a tunnel lined with stone torches to a small arch filled with something dark and fluttery. Gregor thought it might be more bats, but on closer inspection he saw it was a cloud of tiny black moths. Was this what he had passed through when he stumbled into the stadium?**

**Vikus gently slid his hand into the insects. "These moths are a warning system peculiar to the Underland, I believe. The moment their pattern of flight is disturbed by an intruder, every bat in the area discerns it.**

"That is sooo cool!" Lizzie interrupted. yes it is luxa said

** I find it so perfect in its simplicity," he said. Then he vanished into the moths.**

**Behind the curtain of wings, Gregor could hear his voice beckoning. "Gregor the Overlander, welcome to the city of Regalia!"**

**Gregor glanced down at Boots, who had a puzzled look on her face. "Go home, Ge-go?" she asked.**

**He picked her up and gave her what he hoped was a reassuring hug. "Not now, baby. We have to do some things first. Then we'll go home."**

**Gregor took a deep breath and stepped into the moths.**

With this, Grace sighed and handed the book to her husband.


	4. Chapter 6

**Gregor's story is told**

**I do not own ****the ****Underland Chronicles**** Suzanne Collins does.**

**The velvety wings brushed past his cheek, and he caught his first sight of Regalia. "Wow!" he said, stopping in his tracks.**

"Pretty." Boots agreed. yes boots pretty said grace smiling at her little girl.

**Gregor didn't know what he'd expected. Maybe stone houses, maybe caves – something primitive. **

"Why primitive?" questioned Lizzie. yes why primtive Gregor asked luxa with a glare

"I don't know. Maybe because they lived underground. But they have really great architecture." Gregor told both of them will sweating a bit.

**But there was nothing primitive about the magnificent city that spread before him.**

**They stood on the edge of a valley filled with the most beautiful buildings he'd ever seen. New York was known for its architecture, the elegant brownstones, towering skyscrapers, the grand museums. But compared with Regalia, it looked unplanned, like a place where someone had lined up a bunch of oddly shaped boxes in a row.**

**The buildings were all a lovely misty gray, which gave them a dreamlike quality. They seemed to rise directly out of the rock as if they had been grown, not made by human hands. Maybe they weren't as tall as the skyscrapers Gregor knew by name, but they towered high above his head, some at least thirty stories and finished in artful peaks and turrets. Thousands of torches were placed strategically so that a soft, dusky light illuminated the entire city.**

**And the carvings . . . Gregor had seen cherubs and gargoyles on buildings before, but the walls of Regalia crawled with life. People and cockroaches and fish and creatures Gregor had no name for fought and feasted and danced on every conceivable inch of space.**

Mrs. Cormaci gasped. She was really glad that Gregor could describe things so well. It helped her to visualize the city she had never seen.

"**Do just people live here, or roaches and bats, too?" asked Gregor.**

"**This is a city of humans. The others have their own cities, or perhaps 'lands' might be a more accurate word," said Vikus. "The majority of our people live here, although some dwell in the suburbs, if their work so dictates. There stands our palace," said Vikus, directing Gregor's eye to a huge, circular fortress at the far edge of the valley. "There we are headed."**

**The lights shining from the city's many windows gave it a festive look, and Gregor felt his heart lightening a little. New York City glittered all night long, too. Maybe this place wasn't so foreign after all.**

"**It's really great," he said. He would have loved to explore it, if he didn't need to get home so badly.**

"**Yes," said Vikus, as his eyes took in the city fondly. "My people have much love of stone. Had we time, I think we might create a land of rare beauty."**

"**I think maybe you already have," said Gregor. "I mean, it's way more beautiful than anything in the Overland."**

**Vikus seemed please. "Come, the palace has the fairest view of the city. You will have time to admire before we dine."**

**As Gregor followed him down the road, Boots tilted back her head, turning it from side to side. "What'd you lose Boots?"**

"**Moon?" said Boots. Usually you couldn't see the stars from where they lived, but the moon was visible on clear nights. "Moon?"**

**Gregor looked up into the inky black sky and then realized that, of course, there was no sky. They were in some kind of gigantic underground cavern. "No moon, little girl. No moon tonight," he said.**

"**Cow jump moon," she said matter-of-factly.**

Everyone laughed. "Cow _does _jump moon!" Boots insisted. This just made everyone laugh harder. while luxa look very confused about what was going on.

"**Mm-hm," agreed Gregor. If roaches talked, and bats played ball games, then probably there was a cow jumping a moon somewhere, too. **

Everyone started laughing again. luxa still was not sure what the moon was or a cow was so did not laugh.

**He sighed as he pictured the tattered rhyme book in the box by Boot's crib at home.**

**People stared openly at them from the windows as they passed. Vikus acknowledged a few, nodding or calling out a name, and they'd raise their hands in greeting back.**

**Boots noticed and began to wave. "Hi!" she called. "Hi!" and while none of the adults answered her, Gregor saw a few little kids wave back.**

"**You hold great fascination for them," said Vikus, indicating the people in the windows. "We do not get many visits from the Overland."**

"**How did you know I was from New York?" asked Gregor.**

"**There are but five known gateways to the Underland," said Vikus. "Two lead to the Dead Land, but you would never have survived those. Two gateways open into the Waterway, but your clothing is quite dry. You are alive, you are dry, from this I surmise you have fallen through the fifth gateway, the mouth of which I know to be in New York City."**

"**It's in my laundry room!" Gregor blurted out. "Right in our apartment building!" Somehow the fact that his laundry room connected to this strange place made him feel invaded.**

"Technically," Lizzie sighed, getting technical. "We're more invading _their _space. They've never come up here -" untell now looking"said Lizzie who looked at luxa and ripred who smiled at her. dont worry lizzie we will not let any one know who to get here said luxa.

"**Your laundry room, yes," said Vikus thoughtfully. "Well, your fall coincided most favorably with the currents."**

"**The currents? You mean that misty stuff?" asked Gregor.**

"Misty stuff?" Lizzie laughed. "Well, I didn't know what it was." Gregor defended himself. "He just told you." Lizzie said. luxa shook her head at him while ripred laughed.

"**Yes, they allowed you to arrive here in one piece. Timing is all," said Vikus.**

"**What happens if the timing is off?" asked Gregor, but he already knew the answer.**

"**Then we have a body to bury instead of a guest," said Vikus quietly. "That, in truth, is the most common outcome. A living Overlander like yourself, plus your sister, well, this is most singular."**

**It took a good twenty minutes to reach the palace, and Gregor's arms began to tremble from carrying Boots. Somehow he didn't want to put her down. It didn't seem safe with all the torches around.**

Everyone shuddered, thinking what could happen if a two-year-old Boots, even a five-year-old one, got a hold of fire. That would be terrifying. For Regalia that is. luxa was thinking it was a good thing regalia was made of stone winch could not burn encase she did indeed get fire.

**As they approached the magnificent structure, Gregor noticed there was nothing carved in it. The sides were as smooth as glass, and the lowest window opened two hundred feet above the ground. Something was off, but he couldn't quite place it. Something was missing. "There's no door," he said aloud.**

"**No," said Vikus. "Doors are for those who lack enemies. Even the most accomplished climber cannot find a foothold here."**

**Gregor ran his hand along the polished stone wall. There wasn't a crack, not even the tiniest nick in the surface. "So, how do you get inside?"**

"**We usually fly, but if one's bat cannot accommodate . . ." Vikus gestured above his head. Gregor craned his neck back and saw that a platform was being rapidly lowered from a large, rectangular window. It caught on the ropes that supported it about a foot from the ground, and Vikus stepped aboard.**

**Gregor climbed on with Boots. His recent fall to the Underland had only reinforced how much he disliked heights. The platform immediately rose, and he grabbed hold of the side rope to steady himself. Vikus stood calmly with his hands folded calmly before him, but the Vikus wasn't holding a wiggly two-year-old,**

"Oh, no!" Grace gasped, forgetting that Boots was in the room with her, smiling. "Don't drop Boots!" mom she is right there in your arms said Gregor looking worried at his mother who is talking to a book

**and he'd probably ridden this thing a million times.**

**The ascent was rapid and even. The platform leveled off at the window before a small, stone staircase. Gregor carried Boots inside a large room with vaulted ceilings. A group of three Underlanders, all with the same translucent skin and violet eyes, waited to greet them.**

"**Good late day," said Vikus, nodding to the Underlanders. "Meet you Gregor and Boots the Overlanders, brother and sister, who have most recently fallen among us. Please bathe them and then proceed to the High Hall." Without a backward glance, Vikus strode out of the room.**

**Gregor and the Underlanders stared awkwardly at one another. None of them had Luxa's arrogance or Vikus's easy commanding presence. "They're just regular people," he thought. "I bet they feel as weird as I do."**

"No, you probably felt weirder." Lizzie said, logically. "They'd had Overlanders fall to the Underland before. You'd never seen Regalia." "Touché." Gregor agreed. luxa nodded her head in agreement with Lizzie

"**Nice to meet you," he said, shifting Boots over to his other hip. "Say 'Hi,' Boots."**

"**Hi!" said Boots, waving at the Underlanders and looking completely delighted. "Hi! Hi, you!"**

**The Underlander's reserve melted like butter in a skillet. They all laughed, and the stiffness went out of their bodies. Gregor found himself laughing, too. His mom said Boots never knew a stranger, which meant she thought everybody in the world was her friend.**

**Gregor sometimes wished he could be more like that.**

Grace frowned. Gregor had friends, right? luxa cuddles closer to Gregor to show she was there for him.

**He had a couple of good friends, but he avoided becoming part of any one clique at school. It all came down to who you ate lunch with. He could've sat with the guys he ran track with. Or the band kids. But instead he liked being with Angelina, who was always in some school play, and Larry, who just . . . well, mostly he just drew stuff. Some people who didn't really him thought Gregor was stuck-up, but he was, mostly just private. He had more trouble opening up to people after his dad left. But even before that, he'd never been as friendly as Boots.**

Grace sighed. Gregor had gotten even worse after he had come home this last time. luxa kissed Gregor cheek and he smiled at her and said "i am ok i got you now".

**A young woman who looked about fifteen stepped forward and held out her arms. "I am called Dulcet. May I take you, Boots? You would care for a bath?" Boots looked at Gregor for confirmation.**

"**It's okay. Bath-time. You want a bath, Boots?" he asked.**

"**Ye-es!" cried Boots happily. "Bath!" She reached out for Dulcet, who took her from Gregor's arms.**

"**Meet you Mareth and Perdita," said Dulcet, indicating the man and woman next to her. They were both tall and muscular and, although they didn't carry weapons, Gregor had a feeling they were guards.**

"**Hey," he said.**

**Mareth and Perdita both gave him formal, but friendly, nods.**

**Dulcet wrinkled her nose and poked Boots gently in the tummy. "You have need of a clean catch cloth," she said.**

"Catch cloth?" Mrs. Cormaci asked. "Diaper" came four voices and one squeaky "Dye-per!" of boots who was jumping around to show the she to had a valid point while luxa laughed at the toddlers actions

**Gregor could guess what a catch cloth was. "Oh, yeah, her diaper needs to be changed." It had been a while. "She's going to get a rash."**

"**I poop!" said Boots without apology, and tugged on her diaper.**

"Boots." Grace groaned-smiled. "me" said boots in a happy kid voice.

"**I will attend to it," said Dulcet with an amused smile, and Gregor couldn't help thinking how much nicer she was than Luxa. "You will follow to the waters, Gregor the Overlander?"**

"**Yes, thank you, I will follow to the waters," said Gregor. He was struck by how formal he sounded and he didn't want the Underlanders to think he was making fun of them. The roaches had been so easy to insult. "I mean, yeah, thanks."**

**Dulcet nodded and waited for him to fall in step beside her. Mareth and Perdita followed a few steps behind. "They're guards, all right," thought Gregor.**

**The group left the entrance room and walked down a spacious hallway. They passed dozens of arched doorways that opened into large chambers, staircases, and halls. Gregor quickly realized he'd need a map to navigate the place. He could ask for directions, but that wouldn't be too smart if he was trying to escape. They could call him their guest, but it didn't change the fact that he and Boots were prisoners. Guests could leave if they wanted to. Prisoners had to escape. And that was exactly what he intended to do.**

Gregor sighed. '_I guess I should've stayed,_' he thought. '_But then I might nor have ever heard the prophecy or found Dad._' He sighed again. This was all very complicated. he held luxa closer to him and thought everything was worth it after all.

**But how? Even if he could find his way back to the platform, no one would let him down, and he couldn't jump two hundred feet to the ground. "But there must be other ways to enter the palace," he thought. "There must be –"**

"**I have never met an Overlander before," said Dulcet, interrupting his train of thought. "It is only because of the baby I meet you now."**

"**Because of Boots?" said Gregor.**

"**I take care of the young ones for many" said Dulcet. "I would not usually meet so important a person as an Overlander," she said shyly.**

"**Well, that's too bad, Dulcet," said Gregor, "because you're the nicest person I've net here yet."**

"Aww!" Grace cooed. "Gregor that's so sweet!" luxa glared at him be he held up his hands to protect and said that she was not very nice when he first got there witch she could not say was untrue and stopped glaring.

**Dulcet blushed, and boy, when these people blushed, they really blushed! Her skin turned pink as ripe watermelon. Not just her face, either; she colored to the tips of her fingers.**

Mrs. Cormaci whistled, impressed. while Lizzie was think how much time it took for them be able to do that.

"**Oh," she stammered, very embarrassed. "Oh, that is too kind for me to accept." Behind him, the two guards murmured something to each other.**

**Gregor guessed he had said something way out of line, but he didn't know what. Maybe you weren't supposed to imply a nanny was nicer than the queen. Even it if was true. He was going to have to be more careful about what he said.**

**Fortunately, just then they stopped at a doorway. He could hear water running, and steam wafted out into the hall.**

"**Must be the bathroom," he thought. He looked inside and saw a wall divided the room into two sections.**

"**I will take Boots, and you go in here," said Dulcet, indicating one side.**

**Gregor guessed it must be girls on one side, boys on the other, like locker rooms. He thought maybe he should stay with Boots, but he felt as if he could trust Dulcet, and he didn't want to upset her again. "Okay, Boots? See you soon?"**

"**Bye-bye!" waved Boots over Dulcet's shoulder. Clearly she wasn't having any separation anxiety.**

**Gregor veered off to the right. The place did kind of resemble a locker room if locker rooms were gorgeous and smelled good.**

Lizzie pretended to think about it, then shook her head. "Nah, more like gross and sweat-scented." everyone but boots and luxa laughed having no clue what a locker room was.

**Exotic sea creatures were carved into the walls, and oil lamps cast a golden glow. "Okay, but it's got benches and lockers, sort of," he thought, taking in the rows of stone benches and the open cubicles that lined one side of the room.**

**Mareth had followed him in. He addressed Gregor nervously. "This place is the changing room. Here are the rooms for relief and cleansing. Can I get you anything, Gregor the Overlander?"**

"**No, thanks, I think I can figure it out," said Gregor.**

"**We shall be in the hall if you have need," said Mareth.**

"**Okay, thanks a lot," said Gregor. When the Underlander ducked out the door he felt muscles in his face release. It was good to be alone.**

**He made a quick inspection of the place. The relief room held only a solid stone chair with an opening cut in the middle. Looking inside, Gregor saw water ran continuously in a stream underneath it. "Oh, it must be the toilet," he thought.**

**The cleansing room had a small, steaming pool with steps that led down into the water. A fragrant smell filled the air. His whole body ached to get into the water.**

Gregor's dad smiled, wondering if his son was going to come up with the same plan he had. luxa glard at him you should of never done what you did and Gregor drooped his had and looked at the ground i know but if i did not the quest would of never started. she looked at him fine i forgive you this time said luxa

**Gregor quickly returned to the changing room and stripped off his sweaty clothes. Feeling self-conscious, he peed in the toilet. Then he hurried to the pool. He tested the temperature with his toe and slowly walked down into the steamy water. It reached his waist, but he discovered the pool had a bench around it. When he sat down, the water licked his ears.**

**A current washed over him, releasing the knots in his shoulders and back. Gregor cut the surface of the pool with his hand, and the water ran through his fingers. Like the water in the toilet, it flowed in one end of the bath and out the other.**

"**It must be some kind of underground stream," he thought.**

**He sat straight up as an idea hit him. The water came from somewhere! It went somewhere!**

"Really? I didn't know!" Lizzie gasped, teasing him. But his dad grinned looks like he was going to figure it out. But then he frowned. He remembered what had happened when he had escaped and suddenly wished that the plan would fail for Gregor, even though he already knew it wouldn't. luxa kept quite this time around knowing it would do no good.

**If water could get in and out of the palace . . . maybe he could, too.**

Gregor's dad half smiled, half grimaced and handed the book to Mrs. Cormaci.


	5. Chapter 7

**Gregor's story is told**

**I do not own ****the ****Underland Chronicles**** Suzanne Collins does.**

**Gregor scrubbed himself down using a sponge and some gloopy stuff he found in a bowl by the pool. He lathered his hair and even cleaned inside his ears wanting to get every bit of Overlander smell off him.**

"That's it," Grace said, smiling. "Next time I want you to get a proper bath, I'm sending you to the Underland." Gregor grinned, desperately hoping she was being literal. as did luxa

**If he was going to try to escape, he needed to be as indistinguishable from his hosts as possible.**

**On hooks by the pool hung a row of white towels. Gregor couldn't identify the thick woven fabric. "Sure not cotton," he muttered, but the towel was soft and absorbed water much better than the thin, worn ones they used at home.**

**He walked back into the changing room dying his hair and found his clothes had disappeared. In their place was a neat pile of smoky blue garments. A shirt, pants, and what seemed to be underwear. They were much finer than the towels – the cloth ran silkily through his fingers. "What is this stuff?" he wondered, slipping into the shirt.**

**He slid his feet into a pair of braided straw sandals and padded out of the changing room. Mareth and Perdita were waiting.**

"**So, what happened to my clothes?" asked Gregor.**

"**They have been burned," said Mareth apprehensively. Gregor sensed Mareth was afraid he'd be mad.**

"**It is most dangerous to keep them," said Perdita, by way of explanation. "The ash carries no scent."**

**Gregor shrugged to show he didn't care.**

Grace smiled sadly. On the one hand, this could show that her son had good manners, but she knew that Gregor was used to being without a lot of clothes, so really, this was no great loss. luxa thought it was odd how Gregor cared so little about his things.

**"That's cool," he said. "These fit me fine."**

**Mareth and Perdita looked grateful. "After a few days of our food, you will be without much odor, too," said Perdita encouragingly.**

"**That'll be nice," said Gregor dryly. These Underlanders were sure obsessed with his smell.**

Gregor sighed. If only he had listened to them. we should of told you than maybe none of that would of happened said luxa.

**Dulcet emerged from the left side of the bathroom carrying a squeaky clean Boots. She had on a soft, rose-colored shirt, and a clean diaper made from the same material as Gregor's bath towel. She extended her leg and pointed proudly to the new sandal on her foot. "San-da," she said to Gregor.**

**He stuck out his foot to show her his shoes. "Me too," he said. He assumed they'd burned Boots's clothes, as well. He tried to remember what she'd been wearing in case he had to explain the missing stuff to his mom. One dirty diaper, no loss. One pair of scuffed pink sandals her feet were growing out of, anyway. One stained T-shirt. It would probably be okay.**

**Gregor didn't know exactly what he would tell his mom about the Underland. The truth would scare her to death. He'd work out something when that got back to the laundry room, but the sooner that happened, the simpler the story could be.**

Grace wondered silently to herself. '_What would have happened if Gregor and Boots had made it back home that soon? What story would she have been told?_'

**Boots reached out her arms and Gregor took her, pressing his nose into her damp curls. She smelled fresh and a bit like the ocean.**

"**She is well grown," said Dulcet. "Your arms must be tired." She went back into the changing room and came out with some kind of pack. It fitted on his back with straps, and Boots could ride in it looking over his shoulder. He had seen people carrying kids in specially designed backpacks, but his family didn't have money for that sort of stuff.**

This time, everyone but Boots sighed. It had gotten better, but not by much. luxa looked worried at gregor if only he would come with her he never have to worry about money again.

"**Thanks," he said casually, but he was secretly elated. It would be a lot easier to escape with Boots in a backpack than in his arms.**

**Dulcet led them up several staircases and through a maze of halls. They eventually wound up in a long room that opened out on to a balcony.**

"**We call this the High Hall," said Dulcet.**

"**I think you guys forgot the roof," said Gregor.**

"Yes, Gregor," Lizzie laughed, trying to lighten the atmosphere. "They build a city and forget one roof."

"Well, geez, I didn't know." Gregor defended. luxa and ripred laughed at them.

**While the walls were decorated with the greatest care, there was nothing but the black cavern above their heads.**

**Dulcet laughed. "Oh, no, it is meant to be so. We entertain here often, and many bats can arrive at once." Gregor imagined the bottleneck a hundred bats would cause trying to get in the door downstairs. He could see the advantage of a bigger landing strip.**

**Vikus was waiting for them by the balcony with an older woman. Gregor guessed she might be around his grandma's age, but his grandma was stooped and moved painfully from arthritis. This woman stood very straight and looked strong.**

Everyone sat in silence for a moment, remembering Solovet.

"**Gregor and Boots the Overlanders, my wife, Solovet," said Vikus.**

"**Hey," said Gregor, "nice to meet you."**

**But the woman stepped forward and offered both her hands to him. The gesture surprised him. No one else had any effort to touch him since he'd landed.**

"**Welcome, Gregor. Welcome, Boots," she said in a low, warm voice. "It is an honor to have you among us."**

"**Thanks," Gregor mumbled, confused because she was throwing his prisoner status off balance.**

Grace almost started hoping that Solovet would continue to do this so that Gregor wouldn't try to escape, but she realized it was way too late.

**She really made him feel like someone special.**

"**Hi, you!" said Boots, and Solovet reached up to pat her cheek.**

"**Vikus tells me you are very anxious to return home. It pains me that we cannot aid you immediately," she said. "The Underland buzzes with news of your arrival."**

"**I guess everyone wants to look at us, like we're freaks or something. Well, they'd better look fast," thought Gregor. But he said, "Then I'll get to see some stuff down here."**

**Vikus waved him over to the low wall that ringed the balcony. "Come, come, there is much to view," he said.**

**Gregor joined Vikus at the wall and felt his stomach lurch. He involuntarily took a few steps backward. The balcony, it seemed, hung out over the side of the palace. Only the floor separated him from the dizzying drop.**

"**Do not fear, it is well built," said Vikus.**

**Gregor nodded but didn't move forward again. If the thing started collapsing he wanted to be able to make it back to the High Hall. "I can see fine from here," he said. And he could.**

**Regalia was even more impressive from above. On the ground, he couldn't see that the streets, which were paved in various shades of stone, were laid out in a complex geometric pattern so that the city looked like a giant mosaic. He also hadn't realized how big the place was. It extended out several miles each direction.**

"That sounds beautiful," breathed Mrs. Cormaci. "It is," agreed everyone else.

**"How many people live down here?" asked Gregor.**

"**We number three thousand or so," said Vikus. "More, if the harvest reaps well."**

**Three thousand. Gregor tried to get a mental picture of how many people that would be. His school had about six hundred kids in it, so five times that.**

"**So, what are you guys doing down here, anyway?" asked Gregor.**

**Vikus laughed. "We are it has taken you so long to ask. Well, it is a marvelous tale," said Vikus, taking a deep breath to begin it. "Once many years ago lived –"**

"**Vikus," interrupted Solovet. "Perhaps the tale would go well with supper."**

**Gregor silently thanked her. He was starving, and he had a feeling Vikus wasn't the kind of guy to leave out any details.**

"He isn't" both Gregor and his dad laughed. while luxa and ripred nodded in agreement.

**The dining room was off the High Hall. A table had been set for eight. Gregor hoped Dulcet would be joining them, but after tucking Boots in a sort of highchair, she backed up several feet from the table and stood. Gregor didn't feel comfortable eating with her standing there, but he thought he might get her in trouble if he said something.**

**Neither Vikus nor Solovet took a chair, so Gregor decided to wait, too. **

**Soon Luxa swept into the room in a dress that was a lot fancier than the clothes she'd worn in the stadium. Her hair was loose and fell like a shiny silver sheet to her waist. She was with a guy who Gregor guessed was about sixteen. He was laughing at something she'd just said. Gregor recognized him from the stadium. It was the rider who'd felt cocky enough to lie down on his bat as they'd swirled around his head.**

"**Another show-off," thought Gregor. But the guy gave him such a friendly look that Gregor decided not to jump to conclusions. Luxa was annoying, but most of the other Underlanders were okay.**

"**My cousin, Henry," said Luxa shortly, and Gregor wanted to laugh. Here among all these strange names was a Henry.**

**Henry gave Gregor a low bow and came up grinning. "Welcome, Overlander," he said. Then he grabbed Gregor's arm and spoke in his ear in a dramatically hushed voice. "Beware the fish, for Luxa plans to poison you directly!"**

Grace and her husband frowned. They knew this was a joke, but they didn't find it funny. luxa looked down she still had a hard time when ever Henry was brought up Gregor pulled her colse and rubbed her back.

**Vikus and Solovet laughed, and even Dulcet smiled. It was a joke. These people actually had a sense of humor.**

"**Beware **_**your**_** fish, Henry," returned Luxa. "I gave orders to poison scoundrels, forgetting you would be dining as well."**

**Henry winked at Gregor. "Switch plates with the bats," he whispered, and at that moment two bats swooped into the room from the High Hall. "Ah, the bats!"**

**Gregor recognized the golden bet Luxa had been riding earlier. A large gray bat fluttered into a chair near Vikus, and everyone else took a seat.**

"**Gregor the Overlander, meet you Aurora and Euripedes. They are bounded to Luxa and myself," said Vikus, extending a flexed hand to the gray bat on his right. Euripedes brushed his hand with his wing. Luxa and her golden bat Aurora performed the same exchange.**

**Gregor had thought the bats were like horses, but now he could see they were equals. Did they talk?**

"**Greetings, Overlander," said Euripedes in a soft purring voice.**

**Yeah, they talked. Gregor began to wonder if his fish dinner would want to chat as he sliced into it.**

Lizzie snorted. "Would you have screamed if it did?"

"Probably," Gregor admitted. every one laughed at them.

"**Nice to meet you," said Gregor politely. "What does that mean, that you're bonded to each other?"**

"**Soon after we arrived in the Underland we humans formed a special alliance with the bats," said Solovet. "Both sides saw the obvious advantages to joining together. But beyond our alliance, individual bats and humans may form their own union. That is called bonding."**

"**And what do you do if you're bonded to a bat?" asked Gregor. "I mean, besides play ball games together."**

Everyone grimaced. Though they knew Gregor had't meant that way, it really sounded as though he was insulting them.

**There was a pause in which glances were exchanged around the table. He'd said something wrong again.**

"**You keep each other alive," said Luxa coldly.**

**It had seemed like he was making fun of something serious. "Oh, I didn't know," said Gregor.**

"**Of course, you did not," said Solovet, shooting a look at Luxa. "You have no parallel in your own land."**

"**And do you bond with the crawlers, too?" Gregor asked.**

**Henry snorted with laughter. "I would as soon bond with a stone. At least it could be counted on not to run away in battle."**

**Luxa broke into a grin. "And perhaps you could throw it. I suppose you could throw a crawler. . . ."**

"**But then I would have to touch it!" said Henry, and the two cracked up.**

"Leave Temp alone!" Boots defended her friends. Though she wasn't entirely listening to the book, she got the gist of it. its ok boots we all know how much temp saved us thought out aer time in the underland we know he is not useless said Gregor.

"**The crawlers are not known for their fighting ability," said Vikus, by way of explanation to Gregor. Neither he nor Solovet were laughing. He turned to Luxa and Henry. "Yet they live on. Perhaps when you can comprehend the reason for their longevity you will have more respect for them."**

**Henry and Luxa attempted to look serious, although their eyes were still laughing.**

"**It is of little consequence to the crawlers whether I respect them or not," said Henry lightly.**

"**Perhaps not, but it is of great consequence whether Luxa does. Or so it will be in some five years when she comes of age to rule," said Vikus. "At that time, foolish jokes at the crawlers' expense may make the difference between our existence and our annihilation. They do not need to be warriors to shift the balance of power in the Underland."**

**This sobered Luxa up for real, but it killed the conversation. An awkward pause stretched into an embarrassing silence. Gregor thought he understood what Vikus meant. The crawlers would make better friends than enemies, and humans shouldn't go around insulting them.**

**To Gregor's relief, the food arrived, and an Underlander servant placed a half circle of small bowls around him. At least three contained what looked like various types of mushrooms. One had a ricelike grain, and the smallest contained a handful of fresh greens. He could tell by the skimpy portion that the leafy stuff was supposed to be a big treat.**

**A platter with a whole grilled fish was set in front of him. The fish resembled the ones Gregor was used to except it had no eyes. He and his dad had once watched a show on TV about fish that lived way down deep in some cave and didn't have eyes, either. The weird thing was that when the scientists brought some up to study in a lab, the fish had sensed the light and had grown eyes. Not right away, but in a few generations.**

Gregor and his dad smiled, looked very confused.

**His dad had gotten very excited over the show and had taken Gregor to the American Museum of Natural History to look for eyeless fish. They had ended up at** the** museum a lot, just the two of them. His dad was crazy about science, and it seemed as if he wanted to pour everything in his brain right into Gregor's head. It was a little dangerous, because even a simple question could bring on a half-hour explanation. His grandma had always said, "Ask your daddy the time, and he tells you how to make a clock." But he was so happy explaining, and Gregor was just happy being with him. Besides, Gregor gad loved the rain forest exhibit, and the cafeteria with French fries shaped like dinosaurs. They had never really figured out how the fish had known to grow eyes. His dad had had some theories, of course, but he couldn't explain how the fish had been able to change so fast.**

**Gregor wondered how long it took people to become transparent with purple eyes. He turned to Vikus. "So, you were going to tell me how you got down here?"**

**While Gregor tried not to wolf down his food, which turned out to be delicious, Vikus filled him in on the history of Regalia.**

**Not all of it was clear, but it seemed the people had come from England in the 1600s. "Yes, they were led here by a stonemason, one Bartholomew of Sandwich," said Vikus, and Gregor had to work to keep a straight face.**

**"He had visions of the future. He saw the Underland in a dream, and he set out to find it."**

**Sandwich and a group of followers had sailed to New York, where he got on famously with the local tribe. The Underland was no secret to the Native Americans, who had made periodic trips below the earth for ritual purposes for hundreds of years. They had little interest in living there and didn't care if Sandwich was mad enough to want to.**

"**Of course, he was quite sane," said Vikus. "He knew that one day the earth would be empty of life except what was sustained beneath the ground."**

**Gregor thought it might be rude to tell Vikus that billions of people lived up there now. Instead, he asked, "So, everybody just packed up and moved down here?"**

"**Heavens, no! It was fifty years before the eight hundred were down and the gates to the Overland sealed. We had to know we could feed ourselves and have walls to keep us safe. Rome was not built in a day." Vikus laughed. "This was how Fred Clark the Overlander said it."**

"**What happened to him?" asked Gregor, spearing a mushroom. The table got quiet.**

"**He died," said Solovet softly. "He died without your sun."**

**Gregor lowered the mushroom to his plate. He looked over at Boots, who was covered from head to toe in some kind of mushy baby stew. She sleepily finger-painted on the stone tabletop with the gravy.**

"**Our sun," thought Gregor. Had it set? Was it bed-time? Had the police gone, or were they still there questioning his mom? If they'd gone, he knew where she'd be. Sitting at the kitchen table. Alone in the dark. Crying.**

Gregor's dad teared up, thinking of his Grace like that.

**Suddenly he couldn't stand to hear another word about the Underland. He just had to get out of it.**

the book was handed to lizzie.


	6. Chapter 8

**Gregor's story is told**

**I do not own ****the ****Underland Chronicles**** Suzanne Collins does.**

**The darkness pressed down on Gregor's eyes until he felt it had physical weight, like water.**

Gregor's dad smiled, he had had the same thoughts.

**He'd never been completely without light before. At home, streetlights, car headlights, and the occasional flashing fire truck shone in the tiny window of his bedroom. Here, once he'd blown out the oil lamp, it was as if he'd lost the sense of light entirely.**

**He'd been tempted to relight the lamp. Mareth had told him that the torches burned all night long in the corridor outside his room and he could rekindle the flame there. But he wanted to save the oil. He'd be lost without it once he got out of Regalia.**

**Boots made a snuffling sound and pressed her back deeper into his side. His arm tightened around her. Servants had prepared separate beds for them, but Boots had climbed right in with Gregor.**

"Snuggle," Boots explained. "You were warm, Gregor." Gregor grinned at his smallest sister. i have to agree with the little one you are very warm luxa said cuddling closer for more heat.

**It hadn't been hard to get the Underlanders to excuse them for bed. Everyone could see Boots could barely keep her eyes open, and he must have looked pretty ragged himself. He wasn't. Adrenaline was pumping through him so fast, he was afraid that people could hear his heart beating through the heavy curtains that shut off their bedroom from the hall. The last thing he could do was sleep.**

**They had been invited to bathe again before bed. It was something of a necessity for Boots, who, in addition to stew, had conditioned her curls with some kind of pudding.**

"I was mess!" Boots laughed, pointing to herself. "Like Gregor, in the doctor's office!" Everyone's warm smiles were quickly replaced with sad grimaces.

luxa, lizzie and her parents remembered how it felt to see Gregor just _laying _there, so still. Mrs. Cormaci remembered being told what had happened, being so worried for Gregor. Gregor didn't recall any of this, having been unconscious, but he could imagine what he had put his family through.

**Gregor hadn't objected, either. The water gave him a quiet place to think out his escape plan.**

**It also gave him a chance to ask Dulcet about the water system in the palace without seeming suspicious. "How do you guys have hot and cold running water?" he asked.**

**She told him the water was pumped from a series of hot and cold springs.**

"**And then it just empties back into a spring?" he asked innocently.**

"**Oh, no, that would not be fresh," said Dulcet. "The dirty water falls into the river beneath the palace and then flows to the Waterway." **

**It was just the information he needed. The river beneath the palace was their way out. Even better, it led to the Waterway. He didn't know what that was exactly, but Vikus had mentioned it had two gateways to the Overland.**

**Boots stirred again in her sleep, and Gregor patted her side to quiet her. She had not seemed to miss home until bedtime. But she looked worried when he told her it was time to go to sleep.**

"**Mama?" she asked. "Liz-ee?"**

**Was it only that morning that Lizzie had ridden off to camp on the bus? It seemed like a thousand years ago.**

Grace sighed. She remembered having similar thoughts that fateful day it seemed 100ed or yeas ago instead of just a cupple.

"**Home? Mama?" insisted Boots. Even though she was exhausted, he had a hard time getting her to sleep. Now he could tell by how restless she was that she was having vivid dreams.**

"**Probably full of giant cockroaches and bats," he thought.**

"Temp and Awora!" Boots confirmed. "Oh, oh, and Awes!" Gregor winced. luxa pulled him closer to her and kissed his cheek

**He had no way to tell how much time had passed. An hour? Two? But what little noise he'd been able to hear through the curtain had ceased. If he was going to do this thing, he needed to get started.**

**Gregor gently disengaged himself from Boots and stood up. He fumbled in the dark and found the sling Dulcet had given him. Trying to position Boots inside it proved tricky. Finally he just squeezed his eyes shut and let his other senses work. That was easier. He slid her in and slung the pack on his back.**

**Boots murmured, "Mama," and her head fell against his shoulder.**

"**I'm working on it, baby," he whispered back, and searched the table for the lamp. That was all he was taking. Boots, the pack, and the lamp. He'd need his hands for other things.**

**Gregor groped his way to the curtain and pushed the edge aside. There was enough torchlight from the far hall to make out the passage was empty. The Underlanders had not bothered to post guards at his door now that they knew him better. They were making an effort to make him feel like a guest and, anyway, where would he go?**

"**Down the river," he thought grimly. "Wherever that leads."**

**He crept along the hall taking care to place each of his bare feet silently. Thankfully Boots slept on. His plan would disintegrate if she woke before he got out of the palace.**

**Their bedroom was conveniently close to the bathroom, and Gregor followed his way to the watery sound. His plan was simple. The river ran under the palace. If he could make his way to the ground floor without losing the sound of water, he should find the place it drained into the river.**

**If the plan was simple, its execution was not.**

**It took Gregor several hours to weave his way down through the palace. The bathrooms were not always near the stairs, and he found himself having to backtrack so he wouldn't lose the sound of rushing water. Twice he had to duck into rooms and hide when he spotted Underlanders. There weren't many about, but some sort of guards patrolled the palace at night.**

**Finally the sound of water became stronger, and he made his way to the lowest level of the building. He followed his ears to where the roar was loudest and sneaked through a doorway.**

**For a moment, Gregor almost abandoned his plan. When Dulcet had said "river," he had pictured the rivers that flowed through New York City. But this Underland river looked like something out of an action adventure movie. It wasn't terribly wide, but it ran with such speed that the surface was churned into white foam. He couldn't guess its depth, but it had enough power to carry large boulders by as if they were empty soda cans. **

Grace groaned quietly to herself. Did everything have to go wrong?

**No wonder the Underlanders didn't bother to post a guard on the dock. The river was more dangerous than any army they could assemble.**

"**But you must be able to travel on it – they have boats," thought Gregor, noticing half a dozen crafts tied up above the rush of the current. They were made out of some kind of skin stretched over a frame. They reminded him of the canoes at camp.**

**Camp! Why couldn't he just be at camp like a normal kid?**

Everyone sighed, wishing the same thing. expect for luxa she did not know what would of happened if she never meat Gregor.

**Trying not to think of the bobbing boulders, he lit his oil lamp from a torch by the dock. On reflection, he took the torch as well. Where he was going, light would be as important as air. He blew out the oil lamp to save fuel.**

**He carefully climbed into one of the boats and checked it out. The torch slid into a holder clearly designed for it.**

"**How do you get this thing down in the water?" he wondered. Two ropes held it aloft. They were attached to a metal wheel that was affixed to the dock. "Well, here goes nothing," Gregor said, and gave the wheel a yank. It gave a loud creak, and the boat fell straight into the river, knocking Gregor on his rear end.**

**The current swept up the boat like it was a dried leaf. Gregor grasped the sides and hung on as they shot into the darkness. Hearing voices,**

Lizzie snickered quietly to herself. as did ripred.

**he managed to look back at the dock for a moment. Two Underlanders were screaming something after him. The river curved and they vanished from sight.**

**Would they come after him? Of course they would come after him. But he had a head start. How far was it to the Waterway? **_**What **_**was the Waterway, and once he got there, where did he go next?**

**Gregor would have been more concerned about these questions if he wasn't trying hard to stay alive. Along with the boulders, he had to dodge the jagged black rocks that jutted out of the water. He found an oar lying along the bottom of the boat and used it to deflect the canoe off the rocks.**

**The temperature of the Underland had felt comfortably cool since he'd arrived, especially after the ninety-degree heat of his apartment. But the cold wind whipping up off the water made goose bumps rise on his flesh.**

"**Gregor!" He thought he'd heard someone call his name.**

**Was it his imagination or – no! There it was again. The Underlanders must be closing in on him.**

**The river swerved and suddenly he could see a little better. A long cavern lined with crystals shimmered around him,**

Gregor and luxa smiled , thinking of Luxa's/her crystal.

**reflecting back his torchlight.**

**Gregor made out a glittering beach flanking one side of the river up ahead. A tunnel led from the beach into the dark. On impulse, Gregor pushed off a rock and pointed the canoe toward the beach. He paddled desperately with the oar for shore. Staying on the river was no use. The Underlanders were breathing down his neck. Maybe he had time to pull up on the beach and hide in the tunnel. After they'd passed by, he could wait a few hours and try the river again.**

Lizzie sighed and thought to herself. '_Did he really think that they didn't expect him to do that? That, at the very least, they wouldn't think to even check the cave?_' She rolled her eyes. '_Her brother could be so slow sometimes!_' Gregor how could you not check if there was anything in there frist said grace and luxa at the same time.

**The canoe slammed into the beach. Gregor caught himself just before his face hit the boat bottom. Boots jerked partly awake and cried a little, but he soothed her back to sleep with his voice as he struggled to pull his craft across the sand with one hand while carrying the torch with the other. "It's okay, Boots. Shhh. Go back to sleep."**

"**Hi, Bat," she murmured and her head plopped back on his shoulder.**

"Bat?" Lizzie asked. "I don't know. She was probably still half-asleep." Gregor answered. luxa surged she was not there for that part.

**Gregor heard his name in the distance and sped up. He had just reached the mouth of the tunnel when he ran headfirst into something warm and furry. Startled, he staggered back a few paces, dropping the torch. The something stepped out into the dim light. Gregor's knees turned to jelly and he sunk slowly to the sand.**

**The face of a monstrous rat broke into a smile**


	7. Chapter 9

**Gregor's story is told**

**I do not own ****the ****Underland Chronicles**** Suzanne Collins does.**

Lizzie handed the book to Gregor.

"**Ah, here you are at last," said the rat idly. "By your reek we expected you ages ago. Look, Fangor, he has brought the pup."**

**A long nose poked over the first rat's shoulder. It had a friend.**

Grace groaned as did luxa. She already knew what happened, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

"**What a tidbit she is," said Fangor in a smooth, rich voice. **

**"I will allow you the entire boy if I may have the sweetness of the pup to myself, Shed."**

"**It is tempting, but he is more bone than meat, and she is such a morsel," said Shed. "I find myself quite torn by your offer. Stand you, boy, and let us better tell your stuffing."**

Gregor's parents shivered. They both knew their children made it out okay, but they really didn't like hearing two rats talk about eating them so casually.

**The cockroaches had been freaky, the bats intimidating, but these rats were purely terrifying. Sitting back on their haunches, they were a good six feet tall, and their legs, arms, whatever you called them, **

"Limbs," Lizzie supplied. while ripred was laughing to him self over how much thought they were putting in to something so unimportant.

**bulged with muscle under their gray fur. But the worst part of all was their teeth, six-inch incisors that protruded out of their whiskered mouths.**

**No, the worst part was that they were clearly planning to eat Gregor and Boots. Some people thought rats didn't eat people, but Gregor knew better. Even the regular-sized rats back home would attack a person if they were helpless. Rats preyed on babies, old people, the weak, the defenseless. There were stories . . . the homeless man in the alley . . . a little boy who'd lost two fingers . . . they were too horrible to think about.**

**Gregor slowly got to his feet, retrieving the torch, but keeping it down at his side. He pressed Boots back against the cavern wall.**

**Fangor's nose quivered. "This one had fish for supper. Mushrooms, grains, and just a bit of leaf. Now that's flavorful, you must admit, Shed."**

"**But the pup has gorged on stewed cow and cream," returned Shed. "Not to mention, she is clearly milk-fed herself."**

**Now Gregor knew what all the fuss was about bathing had been. If the rats could detect the handful of greens he'd eaten hours earlier, they must have an unbelievable sense of smell.**

**The Underlanders hadn't been rude when they'd wanted him to bathe. They had been trying to keep him alive!**

**He went from attempting to evade them to wishing desperately that they'd find him. He had to hold the rats off. It would give him time. The expression startled him. Vikus had said killing him would give the roaches no time. By "time" did the Underlanders simply mean more life?**

**He brushed off his clothes and tried to adopt the rats' casual banter. "Do I have any say in this?" he asked.**

**To his surprise, Fangor and Shed laughed. "He speaks!" said Shed. "What a treat! Usually we get nothing but shrieks and whimpers! Tell us, Overlander, what makes you so brave?"**

"**Oh, I 'm not brave," said Gregor. "Bet you can smell that."**

**The rats laughed again. "True, your sweat carries much fear, **

**but still you have managed to address us."**

"**Well, I thought you might like to get to know your meal better," said Gregor.**

"**I like him, Shed!" howled Fangor.**

"**I like him, too!" chocked Shed. "The humans are commonly most dreary. Say we keep him, Fangor."**

"**Oh, Shed, how is that to be? It would entail much explaining, and besides, all this laughter gives me hunger," said Fangor.**

"**And me," said Shed. "But you must agree, to eat such amusing prey is a great pity."**

"**A great pity, Shed," said Fangor. "But without remedy. Shall we?"**

**And with that, both rats bared their teeth and moved in on him. Gregor slashed at them with the torch sending a trail of sparks through the air. He held it in front of him with both hands, like a sword, fully illuminating his face.**

**The rats pulled up short. At first he thought they were afraid of the flame, but it was something more. **

"They were afraid of your face!" Lizzie said dramatically in hushed smiled at her and told her she did a good job while this was happening Gregor was thinking '_When did she get so sarcastic?_' , '_Oh, of course. Ripred's practically her best friend. He rubbed off on her. Great._'

**They looked stunned.**

"**Mark you, Shed, his shade," said Fangor in a hushed voice.**

"**I mark it, Fangor," said Shed quietly. "And he is but a boy. Think you he is . . .?"**

"**He is not if we kill him!" Fangor growled, and lunged for Gregor's throat.**

**The first bat came in so silently that neither Gregor nor the preoccupied rats saw it. It caught Fangor mid-leap, knocking him off course.**

**Fangor plowed into Shed, and the rats landed in a heap. Instantly they regained their feet and turned on their assailants.**

**Gregor saw Henry, Mareth, and Perdita zigzagging their bats above the rats' heads. Besides avoiding one another in the limited space, they had to dodge the wicked claws of the rats. Fangor and Shed could easily leap ten feet in the air, and the sparkling ceiling of the cavern over the beach was not much higher.**

**The humans began to dive at the rats, wielding swords. Fangor and Shed fought back viciously with claws and teeth. Blood began to stain the beach, but Gregor couldn't tell whose it was.**

Grace gulped. Why did her babies have to see stuff like this? '_It's only going to get worse,_' a nasty little voice in the back of her head told her. She whimpered.

"**Flee!" Henry shouted at Gregor as he whipped past him. "Flee, Overlander!"**

**Part of him wanted to, badly, but he couldn't. First of all, he had no idea where to go. **

**His boat was high on the beach, and the tunnel . . . well, he'd rather take his chances in the open than in the tunnel if he had to deal with the rats.**

**More important, he knew the Underlanders were only here because of him. He couldn't just run away and leave them to face the rats.**

**But what could he do?**

**At that moment, Shed caught the wing of Mareth's bat in his teeth and hung on. The bat struggled to free itself, but Shed held fast. Perdita came in behind Shed, taking off his ear with one stroke of her sword. Shed gave a howl of pain, releasing Mareth's bat.**

**But as Perdita pulled out of her dive, Fangor leaped onto her bat, ripping a chunk of fur off its throat and hurling her to the ground. Perdita hit her head on the cavern wall as she landed and was knocked out. Fangor loomed over her and aimed his teeth at her neck.**

**Gregor didn't remember thinking of his next move, it just happened.**

**One minute he was pressed against the wall, and the next he had jumped forward and thrust his torch into Fangor's face. The rat shrieked and stumbled backward, right into Henry's sword, Fangor's lifeless body fell to the ground, taking the sword with it.**

**Fangor's shriek finally woke Boots, who took one look over Gregor's shoulder and began wailing at the top of her lungs.**

'_Oh, no!_' Grace thought. She didn't want Boots to have to see that.

**Her cries echoed off the walls, sending Shed into a frenzy and disorienting the bats.**

Lizzie groaned. as did her mother and luxa.

"**How fly you, Mareth?" yelled Henry.**

"**We can hold!" cried Mareth, although his bat was spraying blood from its wounded wing.**

**Things didn't look good. Mareth's bat was losing control, Henry was unarmed, Perdita was unconscious, her bat was gasping for air on the ground, Boots was screeching, and Shed was insane with pain and fear. Though bleeding badly, he had lost none of his speed or strength.**

Grace and her husband exchanged fearful glances.

**Mareth was trying desperately to keep the rat from Perdita, but he was just one guy. Henry flew interference, but he couldn't get in too close without a sword. Gregor crouched over Perdita holding the torch. It seemed a fragile defense against the crazed Shed, but he had to do something.**

**Then Shed leaped, catching Mareth's bat by the feet. The bat slammed into the wall and so did Mareth. The rat turned on Gregor.**

"**Now you die!" screamed Shed. Boots screamed back in terror **(as Grace did the same)** as Shed lunged at them. Gregor braced himself, but Shed never made it. Instead, the rat let out a gasp and pawed the blade that jutted through its throat.**

**Gregor caught a glimpse of Luxa's bat, Aurora, flipping upright. **

Grace sighed. She had to remember to thank Luxa, and she did just that even one els looked at greace with widened eyes not expecting her to do that.

**He had no idea when she'd arrived. Luxa must have been flying completely upside down when she'd stabbed Shed. Even though Luxa had flattened herself on the bat's back, Aurora barely managed to pull out of the maneuver without scraping her off on the ceiling.**

**Shed slumped back against the cavern wall, but there was no fight left in him. His eyes burned into Gregor's. "Overlander," he gurgled, "we hunt you to the last rat." And with that, he died.**

**Gregor had only a moment to catch his breath before Henry landed beside him. Pushing Gregor out onto the beach, he lifted Perdita in his arms and took off, yelling, "Scorch the land!"**

**Blood pouring down his face from a gash on his forehead, Mareth was already wrenching the swords from Shed and Fangor. He dragged the rats into the river, and it quickly carried their bodies away. His bat shakily regained the use of its wings and he hurdled onto its back. Mareth caught Boot's backpack and hoisted Gregor onto his stomach in front of him.**

**Gregor saw Aurora hook her clawed feet into the fur at the shoulders of Perdita's injured bat. Luxa had at some point retrieved the oil lamp from the boat. As they rose into the air, she smashed it onto the ground.**

"**Drop the torch!" yelled Mareth, and Gregor managed to straighten his fingers, releasing it.**

**The last thing he saw as they darted out of the cavern was the beach bursting into flame.**

Gregor handed the book to luxa.


End file.
